Life in Possum Springs (A 50 Writing Prompts Challenge!)
by TheShock
Summary: Life in Possum Springs was never easy, that was something the old inhabitants knew, as well as the new ones. But Mae Borowski knows one thing: it isn't that simple when everything's turning right or wrong at every corner... (Rated T, just to stay safe. May contain pairings, but not established right now, except for Angus/Gregg, which is canon.)
1. Star (Potential Spoilers)

**This is a challenge I set out for myself, as I'm going to use sunshockk's writing prompts, but unlike the other challenges I've seen in here, I'm going to use only the prompts that are closest to describing a character's life (e.g. Mae). Plus, there's going to be like only 50 chapters of this!  
**

 **Of course, I'm also warning you that there might be** **spoilers** **for the game, so if you're spoiler-sensitive, you could avoid the ones marked with the (Potential Spoliers) tag. That includes the supplemental games as well. Though, if you don't mind being a little spoiled, read away!**

 **This might update either every Friday, or every Friday and Saturday, depending on how well I can fully develop the prompt — with that being said, the length of the chapters may vary.**

 **Name of prompt will be generated via random/./org, just letting you know that.  
**

 **Without further ado, let's start this.**

* * *

 **STAR  
(Potential Spoilers: Main Game/ Supplemental Games)  
**

" _Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light;_  
 _I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night."_

Mae Borowski wasn't the type to pay attention to educational things, of that much she was aware, but there was always something that fascinated her, no matter how hard life could've hit her, no matter how many years would pass — and it seemed like Possum Springs never really changed — or how many dangers she would face.

It was stargazing.

Something drew her each twilight towards Mr. Chazakov's house, to learn more and more about the billions, and billions of stars that gave the sky a beautiful glow, a serenity that she never truly grasped when she was at the church — though she wasn't religious, she was still going on the church grounds to visit her mom, and see Pastor K — it seemed that the blue bird was more than willing to help Mae on her path in life, while the latter wasn't still convinced of certain, to put it mildly, things in life.

It wasn't surprising that Mr. Chazakov actually liked Mae's inquisitiveness, despite the fact the young feline was prone to anger issues and mental disorders — and the blue bear was proudly smiling each time he greeted Mae, ready at paw with his telescope.

„Why, hello there, Mae!" the bear said in a rather low, guttural voice. „There was no need of you to climb all the way here!"

„Uh, I'm fond of climbing things, Mr. Chazakov," Mae replied in a neutral tone. „I just came by to see how you're doing."

„Mae, wait." the blue bear said, „Would you like to hunt dusk stars with me? Despite your general attitude, you're still my favorite student. I have never seen someone so passionate about astronomy as you!"

„Sure, Mr. Chazakov, but...what are dusk stars?" Mae asked, a little unsure about where all this was going.

„Stars that aren't usually visible, the light of the setting sun and a trick of the atmosphere helps me study them. This happens every spring and fall."

„Well, I'm ready!" the dark-coated feline replied, taking command of the telescope. „Uh, it burns! Why am I watching the Sun?"

„Not my fault you're out of practice, Mae," Mr. Chazakov said, „Now, what can you see? Find me a pattern."

„Found one!" said the young feline after a few minutes of search. „It's uh, a cat holding a head's mouse?"

„Let me see..." the blue bear gently pushed his student, „Ah, you've found Dohr, the Murderer."

„Whoa, that's a creepy name. What's his story?" Mae said, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.

„Well," the bear started to say, „he went past Bern the King's procession on the street. Dohr was quiet, and the king was offended."

„Huh, that's weird." the cat noted, her ears twitching in a strange manner.

„Yes, royalty is indeed something strange. Anyway, the king insulted Dohr and so on, until he insulted Dohr's chickens." Mr. Chazakov said.

„And...?" Mae looked at the bear with pleading eyes.

„And then Dohr started killing everything the king had, until he reached the king. This time, the king was silent." the blue bear said, adjusting his tie.

„This story is cool," the young, dark-coated cat said, „I mean, he was treated like a nobody. And I want to get a tattoo of this guy, I dunno."

„Well, the story is real. Real people died." the bear deadpanned.

„Okay...Let's find another pattern," Mae said, taking the telescope once more.

After a while of fumbling, she found another pattern, only this time she described it as „a fox that looks like Gregg while popping bubbles out of it's mouth.", and Mr. Chazakov consulted his guide for this one — and he wondered if Mae would enjoy this story too — so he cleared his throat and announced: „That's Castys. She was a woman who tried building a tower to heaven —,"

„Whoa, geez, that's weird." Mae interrupted the old bear. „Must've taken years to make it, right?"

„I don't know, Mae," Mr. Chazakov said, „but legend has it that she was punished by the gods, and thrown into the depths of the sea. Even then, she refused to die."

„Wow. That's interesting. Can I look some more, Mr. Chazakov?" the dark cat asked, gently scratching the back of her head.

„I'm afraid not, Mae. I'm quite tired, and you'd better head home."

" _Not just beautiful, though — the stars are like the trees in the forest, alive and breathing. And they're watching me."_

That night, Mae had another of her strange dreams.  
It was full of weird stars, and she was running in an abandoned town of sorts, trying to light up her way as she jumped over them, but nothing really made sense — except for these four musicians that seemed to appear everytime in her dreams — and each time she managed to find them all, some weird creature came above her, disappearing in the nether.

And then she was back to reality.

Groggily as ever, Mae was aware that all these dreams had to mean something, she was sure of it, in some way. Though she couldn't dawdle on those thoughts for too long — she had to hang out more with Mr. Chazakov, learn more about the stars! And she was quite excited to share this to her friends, while Angus was indeed surprised to learn Mae was back on learning — well, something, at least — and congratulated her.

[maewitchdagger]: So, uh, hi. I'm going to see Mr. Chazakov today. Maybe I'm going to hang out with you guys later!

[ladanseducerceuil]: Mae. You know the drill. Ol' Pickaxe.

[maewitchdagger]: Yeah, Bea, I know. :3

[greggthesnalconlord]: Hey dude. At the Snalcon, work work work.

[maewitchdagger]: Will be there, dudder.

[angusthedtbear]: — Away message — I'd like to believe stars expand beyond billions and billions of black matter.

„ _Geez, Angus, you and your away messages."_ Mae deadpanned as she was getting ready for the second lesson on dusk stars with Mr. Chazakov, but not before she'd stop to talk with her mom about various issues that the latter thought they were worth mentioning — and making Mae uncomfortable in the process — but the smaller dark cat wasn't really paying attention, for the constant headaches that were making her nauseous didn't want to stop right now.

„Mae? Mae, sweetie, are you alright?" her mother asked, helping the smaller cat stand upright. „Maybe you should rest today, you're not —"

„I have to go see Mr. Chazakov, Mom!" Mae said, a little harsher than she thought. „S-sorry. I'm just — weird."

„It's okay, hon. Just, take it easy. Please..." Candy Borowski said, looking worriedly at her daughter.

„Will do, Mom." Mae nodded.

 **(After a few minutes of wandering...)**

„Ready for another hunt?" the blue bear asked, adjusting his tie as his eyes were glistening with joy.

„Sure, Mr. Chazakov." Mae nodded.

„You know the drill, Mae. Find me a pattern." Mr. Chazakov said.

After a few moments of fumbling with the telescope, a shout of glee could be heard as she found a pattern that looked similar to „Bea, but a lot more uh-specialized in something." The bear looked through his guide and raised an eyebrow in curiosity, mumbling something about how fast Mae found _that_ constellation. Silence filled the air as Mr. Chazakov seemed to enjoy the rising suspense, while Mae was starting to get impatient by the minute, until the blue bear realized it would be better to stop teasing the dark feline like that.

„ _That_ is Adina Astra. You know the story, right?" the blue bear asked.

„Yeah, my granddad used to tell me this story." Mae said. „She journeyed to find that Frozen Lake and that star, and nobody's seen her again."

„Well. That _is_ the legend, after all." Mr. Chazakov shrugged. „Find another pattern."

After a thorough search, it seemed that Mae found another constellation, this time representing „some bird that spits...fire?" and the bear took the telescope in his paws, wondering how did she manage to find them _this_ fast. Eventually, after a long pause, Mr. Chazakov replied, saying it was „Rubello, the Pope."

„I think there's a statue of him. Outside the church," the dark-coated feline said. „I have no idea what's his story. Didn't ask Pastor K about it..."

„Well, there were two rival popes — one of them was Rubello — and he won by burning them with fire from his mouth."

„What? Geez, that's weeeird." Mae said, throwing her paws in the air.

„That's not all there's to it. He then ate his rival —" Mr. Chazakov said, before being interrupted.

„Creepy times back then." the feline shook her head.

„— and then his family poisoned and stabbed him before throwing him into a canal." the bear said, waiting for Mae's reaction.

„Geez. That's why the world is now upside down!" Mae said. „Thanks for this second lesson, Mr. Chazakov!"

„ _Perhaps we'll hunt more stars together, little Mae."_ the bear thought to himself as he ticked the constellations found this far. _„Through them, we learn more about our world, and more about why we can find all these patterns."_


	2. Knight (Some Spoilers)

**Well, this prompt is definitely a surprise.**

 **I'll be truthful: I had to roll the random /./ org stuff a few times before I could land on this prompt. Reason's obvious, the prompts that have fallen before this one – let's just say I was empty on ideas for them. I'm serious; nothing came up for those prompts.**

 **I'll admit, I had to watch a few sequences of Demontower before writing this particular thing. But all in all, this gives me the possibility of exploring the bond between Mae and Angus, which feels so unexplored throughout the game, to be honest!**

 **Also, sorry if it feels quite short...?**

* * *

 **KNIGHT**  
 **(Potential Spoilers: Main Game)**

 _"In the age of blood…_  
 _A pale one will rise._  
 _Who dares to climb the steps of…_

 _THE DEMON TOWER?"_

Today was raining more than usual, so Mae thought it wouldn't be bad to play Demontower. After all, it was Angus who brought back memories of this amazing game, with one warrior destined to vanquish evil that stood in its' path. It was an idealistic view of things, that much she knew, but the game was simply too good to be missed, and so she started playing, trying to remember the whole story so far.

She remembered the cat's name was Palecat — as if it was a pun on Paladin Cat — or so she thought, and that cat had to conquer the Demon Tower in the name of its' homeland, and of course, save the world with it. It felt like it was too straight-forward, nothing impressive about this one, except its' strange appearance with a cross on his head and that cool, green cape. The game Angus gave her was also Part IV, and she didn't play up until Part III. _"A whole new world is opening to me!"_ Mae thought as she looked at the first level ahead of her, which was unexpectedly hard for her, given the fact she didn't play for quite a long time. "Ugh, come on, Palecat! Why is this freaking game so hard! Come on, kill those stupid boulders, and find that key—!"

She didn't have time to pass the first level, because her mother called out to lunch. "Mae, honey, come down to eat!" to which Mae replied with a hasty "Ok" before closing the game. It was strange how much this game changed, and yet she wasn't going to give up — if there was anything she hated, was giving up — but just when she was about to leave, Angus wrote to her.

[angusthedtbear]: Hey Mae.

[maewitchdagger]: Yeah, Angus?

[angusthedtbear]: Are you going to the park today?

[maewitchdagger]: Yeah. See ya. Going for lunch.

[angusthedtbear]: Okay.

It was very rare for the three Borowskis to stay together at the same table, mainly because Candy and Stan were always working hard to keep the house — if she was honest, Mae admitted she felt a little guilty for leaving college, but she didn't want to reveal the whole truth — so the lunch was quiet, except for few questions her mother would address to her.

"Mae, honey, are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I dunno. I just have these headaches." Mae said, trying to dissuade her mother from pressing on.

"Did you take those pills Dr. Hank gave you?" Candy Borowski continued, looking at her daughter worriedly.

"They're helping me, sorta. But I can't really take them now." the small-statured cat said as she kept looking at her plate.

"Kitten, you know you can tell us everything, right?" her father, Stan, cued in. "What's bothering you?"

"It's all this —" Mae began, "— this whole year's been hard. I feel like I'm that pale cat that fights for survival in Demon Tower."

"Oh, that game of yours…" Candy muttered under her breath, as she looked for the book she usually read after lunch. "Oh, look, it's no longer raining!"

"Well, uh, that means I can go meet with Angus." Mae said, finishing her meal. "See ya later, Mom, Dad."

 **(After a long wandering…)**

Mae stopped in front of the video games store Angus was working at, pondering how could she tell him about the fact that Demon Tower seemed to be harder than usual. _"I'd look like a sore loser in front of the biggest Demon Tower fanatic,"_ the small, dark cat was chiding herself, as she opened the door to the store, which was — not surprisingly — empty. She sighed, pondering the many things that she could say to Angus, when the brown bear simply toyed around with his hat, and cleaned his glasses, before taking Mae by surprise:

"I know you have issues with Demontower," he said. "Don't worry, I barely started it myself. Working in here takes me more time than the game itself."

"Really?" Mae raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Like, nobody comes in here, how can you say that?"

"You'd be surprised." Angus said, shrugging. "Anyway, want to go to the park?"

"Sure," Mae said.

"We'll take Bea's car till there." the brown bear said as he adjusted his glasses. "Come on, it's going to be a while."

"So, uh," Mae said, "do you think we'll find that ghost in there?"

"I told you, Mae…I don't think there's really a ghost. I think it's just a legend, meant to scare people out."

"But he kidnapped someone! Or…murdered them!" the dark-coated feline replied, her paws shaking. "I swear I saw it."

"Mae, I don't know if I can believe you, but we'll test your theory out." Angus said, calmly.

"Is Bea okay with you driving her car?" Mae suddenly asked as they were outside "Too" Video Games Store.

"Yeah, she is. Let's go." the bear said, rolling his eyes in a comical manner.

 **(Meanwhile…)**

Gregg felt a little alone without Angus, but he was happy to see Mae trying to be, once more, the glue that held the four friends together — for the most part of Mae's absence, Angus was the one that filled the role, and the fox thought that his boyfriend was still better at it — but then, his mind wandered at Bea. Didn't know why, didn't know how, but he knew that he was grateful she was such a good friend, even if she did tell him that there were some feelings that she had for him. He remembered that he told her something, something that neither would ever forget at all:

"Bea, uh, look." Gregg looked at her awkwardly, "I'm not really feeling the same way. I bet you figured that out by now, don't cha?"

"Gregg? What are you trying to say?" the female alligator blinked for a moment, as she fiddled with a cigar — she just barely started smoking back then — and tried to process what her fox friend just said.

"I'm uh, queer." the fox said, rubbing his neck sheepishly. "I fell for a cute bear…His name is Angus. He's kind of like, my knight in shining armor."

"Really? I…I never knew, Gregg. Why didn't you tell me?" Bea asked, looking at him with a soft gaze, something that was rarely seen of her.

"Y-you know queer people aren't that…well seen in Possum Springs. Anyway, I hope you'll find your knight too." Gregg said with a large, encouraging smile. "Who knows, that knight can come in many forms."

The fox smiled as he remembered this, knowing that Angus was the one who kept them together. There were times when he was the knight, and times when Angus was — but that didn't stop Gregg from loving the brown bear more and more each day. " 'Love ya, bug." Gregg said out loud as he drifted off to sleep.

 **(In Bea's car…)**

"So, uh, I just took the time to play Demontower," Mae said, "but I think I forgot how to play it. It's odd…"

"Well," Angus said, "It's been a long time, Mae, not to mention that's the last game in the series."

"What?!" the feline yelled, "No way, it was my favorite series!"

"Mine, too." the bear replied. "Still, it is a good game that can always be replayed."

"True…" Mae said, with dreamy eyes. "Anyway, excited for the hunt? Come on, it's ghost hunting, in the woooods!"

"Mae. Let's hope your theory is just in your head." Angus said, as he was focused on driving the whole time.

" _Yeah, let's hope I don't get kidnapped or killed like in that game…_

 _Ugh, why did Palecat wanted to be a knight in the first place…?_

 _Cause being a knight is the worst job in the entire world._

 _Possum Springs didn't have knights, but it had miners._

 _It is even worse…"_


	3. Cold (Some Spoilers)

**Sorry for not updating this at the right time!**  
 **Also, I'm sorry for seeing Gregg as a fox? That's how I see him, literally.**

 **Anyway, on with the prompt!**

* * *

 **COLD**

" _I do not love you except because I love you;_  
 _I go from loving to not loving you,_  
 _From waiting to not waiting for you_  
 _My heart moves from cold to fire."_  
 _(Pablo Neruda)_

It was another rainy day in Possum Springs, and the wind was ruffling through the leaves, lifting them from the grey sidewalk. Puddles of water could be seen accumulating on the roadside, as well as in the old cracks of the sidewalk,— cracks that Mae often thought they were poorly fixed — and a general atmosphere of gloom was present everywhere in the small town. Bea was sitting behind the counter at the Ol' Pickaxe, smoking a newly-lit cigar and wondering how long this rain was going to go, mainly because she enjoyed hearing the sound of rain pouring outside and the whole atmosphere, and it seemed she wasn't the only one who liked all of this.

Mae Borowski was just waking up, slightly groaning as her headaches didn't seem to go away — it was odd, she believed the pills were finally working — but then the feline remembered that she didn't have any other appointment with Dr. Hank. „ _Greaat, now my head will feel like I'm exploding aall over again,_ " she thought as she was putting her boots and dusted her clothes, and then checked for any messages from her friends, which were the usual texts.

However, there was something different about **one** of those texts.

[ladanseducerceuil]: Mae, if you want to, we can hang out more often.

And Mae was a little reluctant to reply, as she was unsure what to say. If it were after Mae, the feline would've given in to some strange emotions that she felt — but she was really confused, were they the truth, or the lie? — it almost seemed like the dark-coated feline froze before her computer, until she noticed that Bea was actually contacting her further.

[ladanseducerceuil]: Uh, Mae? Are you there?

[maethewitchdagger]: Yeah. Sure, we can hang out!

[ladanseducerceuil]: Okay, see you.

„ _What the hell just happened right now?"_ the young Borowski thought, _„It's veery unlike me to freeze like that. Anyway, let's get going, Bea awaits me."_ And just as she was getting ready to walk out the door, her mother called out Mae, asking the latter to come by and say at least hello. _„Hopefully, she won't be touching that subject anymore..."_ the cat's mind was rebelling at the sheer thought of making small talk.

„Hi, mom!" Mae lightly greeted her mother as she jumped on the counter next to the sink.

„How are you, sweetie?" Candy Borowski asked, as she lifted her eyes from the red book she was reading. „Any more headaches?"

„Once in a while, y-yeah." Mae nodded, while silently wishing the whole conversation would come to an end, eventually. „Looks like it's raining outside."

„I like it when it's sunny, it's more hopeful," her mother replied. „So where are you going today?"

„Maybe I'll hang out with Bea." the small cat said, putting a paw over her long-sleeved shirt. „Guess it will be cool."

„Be sure to take your coat as well, sweetie. I don't want you to catch a cold!" Candy said.

„Mom, I'm no longer a child, I know what I need to do!" Mae hissed. „Anyway...uh, goodbye."

„You're still my child when under this roof..." her mother replied. „Goodbye, and be back for dinner, okay?"

„Yeah." Mae nodded as she headed out towards the door, picking up her coat.

While it was rainy and chilly outside, it surely was a good idea from her mom to wear this coat — not that she liked wearing anything else beside her cool long-sleeved shirt — but then again, it was windy and she could see most people wearing a coat over themselves. _„I really hope Bea's okay, she's never asking me to hang out."_ Mae thought for a moment as she wandered through the town, and felt as if something odd was going on.

But before seeing Bea, she had to stop by, see what Selmers was up to. Mae really enjoyed hearing Selmers' poems, as the female bear was now getting better at writing things — at first, the small, dark cat thought the poems were a little off — so it was cool to hear a few verses before going towards the Ol' Pickaxe.

„What's totally up, Seelmeeers?" Mae greeted the female bear as the latter was slightly dangling her legs in a swinging motion, a sign that she was either bored, or focused on making another rhyme.

„Just finished writing another poem, Mae." Selmers said as she put up the pencil behind her left ear. „Want to hear it?"

„Sure!"

„ _It's cold._  
 _And I unfold_  
 _A mystery_  
 _Of reality."_

„Wow, that's cool." Mae said. „You really improved."

„Want to hear another one?" Selmers asked, as she shuffled through her journal.

„Mhm," Mae nodded. „Maybe they'll inspire me for something, too!"

„Ok." Selmers replied after finally finding a dog-eared page.

But the poem that was about to be recited was one that would stick with Mae for a long, long time — maybe because it was also a sour reminder of what happened a year ago — and it was like a wake-up call to...well, something that she felt for a while.

More than a while.

Though, she knew that she couldn't come clean. How could she, after all?

 _In all this frozen_  
 _Abyss of feelings_

 _I came to think_  
 _Is it you who belongs_  
 _Deep down in_  
 _My heart as it sings?_

„Huh, sounds like you inspired yourself from Adina's story, right?" Mae suddenly thought.

„A bit so, yes." Selmers nodded. „It is beautiful."

„See ya later, Selmeers." Mae smiled before she headed out towards the Ol' Pickaxe, where Bea was waiting.

Mae's mind was in a haze, rolling through her own darkness and cold blood, as if there was something asking her within — asking to keep on doing the right thing — and then she passed out just in front of Bea's shop, making the female alligator shift her cigarette as she opened the door and brought the cat inside, in a funny way that people would've thought they were together. But Bea wasn't thinking about that, for she placed Mae in one of the spare chairs in the back while hissing to Dan, a temporary hire, to bring out some water.

„Stay with me, Mae, stay." the female alligator said as she was slapping Mae across her face, in an attempt to wake the feline up. „Don't you go unconscious on me!"

But Mae didn't respond at all, until Bea threw the water over her, prompting a sudden jolt as feline and alligator were staring at one another, their eyes locked into a gaze that one would see as deep love — until their moment of awkwardness was interrupted by some loud bickering outside.

„What the hell? Didn't I tell you to bring those tools just yesterday?!" a deep, male's voice resounded in the front. „You know who I am, yeah?"

„Steve Scriggins," Dan said, „So, I'll ask my boss if I can deliver them today."

„You'd better do, wuss. Or otherwise —" Steve said as he dusted his janitor-like uniform, when Bea just walked in, „Oh, hello, gorgeous."

„Steve Scriggins." Bea deadpanned. „Dan will deliver those today, so you can go mind your own business."

„Wanna date with me tonight, B?" the male alligator said, as he lit up another cigarette. „'been invited to an awesome party, somewhere in Bright Harbour."

Mae overheard that, and a pang of — something — went through her heart, as she didn't feel quite right if Bea would've left town. Then again, the dark-coated feline chided herself with a sombre thought, _„What if she doesn't really care about what I feel? Plus, she's definitely not showing any interest. And if-if I tell her..."_ and then placed a paw over her forehead, slightly groaning.

Those headaches...

„I dunno, Scriggins," Bea said, hissing a little. „I may have some other plans for tonight."

„Nah, you don't. You're bluffing, I know you do." Steve said as he drew nearer. „C'mon, you really wanted to date me ever since Gregg proved to be a lady."

„Don't speak of Gregg like that."

„Shush. I'll pick you up at eight, and make sure you're alone." Steve Scriggins said, with a sly smile on his face. „See ya."

 _It's cold,_  
 _Deep down in_  
 _My heart as it sings..._

Mae couldn't believe it — Beatrice Santello, her friend and possible love interest, — was going out on a date with the nefarious Steve Scriggins?! _„No way..."_ the feline thought as she rose from the chair she was sitting in, slightly wobbly, knowing that she wouldn't let Beatrice do all of this to herself, so it was a little surprising to see Mae looking a little disappointed as she struggled to get ahold of her movements.

„Mae, why are you walking alone? You're still sick!" Bea said, trying to help her, until Mae hissed and rejected the offer of help.

„I can walk on my own, th —" the feline tried to say, but she collapsed right under the gaze of Dan and Bea. „Well, maybe not."

„Mae...you're so stubborn sometimes." the female alligator said. „I have to do something before I go to that party. Want to come?"

„Sure, Beebee." Mae replied. „Ugh, my head..."

„Ok...let's go."

 **(Meanwhile...)**

Angus was busy working out a new program, while Gregg slept away in his bed, tired after a long day at the Snack Falcon — though the brown bear could notice that his boyfriend _did_ squirm every now and then — and wondered what happened to Mae since the latter never bothered to visit any of them, until he noticed Bea's away message. _„Doing Pickaxe tasks, helping Mae, and going to a party. See you."_

„ _So that's what happened. Mae got herself into trouble again..."_ Angus thought as he arranged his glasses and pressed on with coding stuff, while remembering it was a year since the event with the cult. Something still loomed above Possum Springs, like a dark cloud of frost and fear.

„Cap'n?" Gregg said, a little sleepy. „Ya' there?"

„Yeah, Bug. What's wrong?" Angus turned towards his boyfriend.

„Got a wild nightmare," the fox said as he held his forehead. „Remember when Mae described her nightmares to us once?"

„Yes." the bear replied. „Said something about being rollercoaster-like, sinking into despair and such."

„Well...I saw the four musicians as well."

„What?!" Angus's eyes widened behind his glasses. „Y-you can't be serious."

„I get this bad vibe, Cap'n. I'm feeling a little cold."

„Don't worry, Bug. Got your back." Angus said, as he held Gregg in his burly arms.

 **(On the road...)**

Mae stood silent in the car, while Bea was driving towards their destination, seemingly quite focused and the air was getting a little heavy due to the amount of smoke, despite the fact that the alligator was driving with the window open on her side. It was quite obvious that between them was a tension going for a lot of time — but for how long, neither could be sure — and it didn't help that they had that big fight before they fell out, though Mae wasn't going to let it slide. She was forming thoughts in her head, each crazier than the next, until the feline decided to speak for herself, and hoped that it won't get to a point where everything was going to fall apart — this time in forever.

„Bea?"

„Yes, Mae?"

„I'm sorry about that fight we had."

„That's a bit odd, but apology accepted, Mae."

„ _Damnit, just ask her already!"_ Mae hissed in her mind, willing to know what exactly was between them. _„You can't dance around_ — _"_

„Shit." Bea said as she noticed that the pack of cigars was in the torpedo, and didn't want to ask Mae about them. „Let's hope we get to the farm soon enough."

„Want these?" the female cat said as she picked up the pack. „I can help, if you —"

„ **Mae. Put them back.** " Bea said, a little hissing. „I can resist until the farm. What's on your mind, though? You seem aloof..."

„A wolf?"

„You mean, aloof. You've acted weird all evening." the female alligator shook her head.

„I —"

„We're here."

Bea and Mae got off the car, as they walked in silence towards the small house in the woods, from which smoke could be seen rising from the chimney. The night was chilly, and Mae found herself shivering, even more than before, while Bea was casually walking around ahead of her — the feline couldn't stop noticing there was a certain beauty in the alligator before her — but there was no certainty of that feeling she had within.

Also, Bea dated Gregg once — but then the fox stated clearly he was queer — so she didn't try her hand at romance anymore. It seemed that Scriggins was willing to try and date her, though there was something about the guy that she really didn't like. _„Ugh. Let's fix this mess, and then go to that stupid date."_

„Wait — I wanted to tell you something, Bea." Mae said, stopping the alligator in her tracks, while still shivering from the cold. „Do you really want to go to that date?"

„Why? It's freaking Steve Scriggins, after all."

„That's why I ask. He's like, the worst person ever!" Mae said, throwing her paws in the air.

„You know that I'm —" Bea said, but before she could even finish, Mae looked at her just like they did before at the shop. „Why are you looking at me like that? You're scaring me."

„I-I don't mean to. I —"

„No. Don't tell me that. I'm not into —"

„ _There it goes again..."_ Mae thought as she held her head, the headache returning with more fury than before. _„I told you I'm not into girls!"_

„I see." she finally replied, still shivering. „But your eyes are lying."

„ _Your eyes..."_

 **(Somewhere in the underground...)**

„Are you sure this thing's now stable?" one voice called out.

„Nah. Half of the tunnel is gone, thanks to those brats, had to create another hole."

„Do you think they'll come back?" the voice said.

„Mae Borowski is the key to all of this, that's all I know."

„It's suddenly, really, really cold." the voice went on.

„ **Hear that? He sings. He sings once more..."**


	4. Coin (A Few Spoilers)

**Sorry for not updating this at the right time** — **again.**  
 **However, the next prompt will be right on time, and it's already laid out.**  
 **Yep, two great news for you.**

 **This one was tough as well, because the prompt was difficult to encompass, I guess.**

 **Hopefully, this will be an enjoyable read.**  
 **It maebea (may be) the longest chapter at this point.**

 **Note:** **I also managed to think of some sort of ranking within the cult, "he'shari" means leader, "heph'za" means lieutenant, "sha'ho" means follower.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **COIN**

" _You are caught between all that was and all that must be. You feel lost..."_  
 _(Haruki Murakami)_

It was a strange day in Possum Springs — the sun was barely seen amidst all of the clouds — and it seemed like rain would soon start, for the wind started to gently rustle through the canopy of the trees. Scores of locals were out on the streets, admiring the change of nature as it was now spring, the harsh cold of winter was no longer present. Selmers was outside her house, on the usual spot, and frantically scribbled some verses that came up to her mind — but today she had to look after the three kids of the Harleys', which were quite annoying and played their silly game of „FBI and Little Joe" — so Selmers had to kindly ask the three to make less noise. Ada, Mark and Jamie shook their heads in disapproval, and they seemed to whisper something amongst themselves, until they scooted off, away from Selmers' view.

The bear sighed and facepalmed as she started walking after them, calling them back, but the three Harleys' were never to be found. _„Great,"_ Selmers mentally deadpanned, _„those two will be at my throat again."_ and she returned to her usual spot as she looked to the new poem she just wrote, when she noticed Mae hanging around her house. It seemed like the cat was somewhat troubled, because she gently ruffled her small tuft of red hair and started pacing back and forth — maybe she needed advice about something, or there was more to it — all Selmers knew was that Mae was acting too weird to be left unchecked, so she approached the feline, lightly greeting her.

„Heya, Mae," Selmers said as she put away her small notebook, „what are you doing in here?"

„Uh, hi, Selmers," Mae said, a little absentminded. „Wandering around town, you?"

„That doesn't look like _wandering_ to me, Mae," the bear said, her eyes a little narrowed, „it looks like _trouble._ What happened?"

„Nevermind that," the dark cat said, shaking her head, „it's something I'd rather take up with Gregg. Anyway, how's your new poem coming?"

„I think you'll like this one," Selmers said, as she took out her notebook and flipped the pages, eventually leaving out a soft ‚Aha' when she found it. Then, she cleared out her throat and started reciting:

„ _Choose, what to choose,_  
 _The side of right or wrong,_

 _Tell me, who's_  
 _Really walking along  
When I'm alone?_

 _Sides of a coin_  
 _Which one to join  
When I'm alone?  
How to atone?"_

„Geez, Selmers, that was deep," Mae couldn't help a laugh, „never heard something like this before."

„ 'Course you didn't," the bear smiled as she put away the notebook and shoved her paws in the purple hoodie's pockets. „Well, I'm going to find those idiot Harleys before they get into _more_ trouble than last time."

Selmers started to walk away from Mae, and the dark cat let out a sigh as Selmers somehow answered a thought that ran into her mind — about Bea, of course — so she walked towards the Snack Falcon, as Gregg specifically asked her to come by and talk. The gentle rustle of leaves was a pleasant sound, but it was disturbed once in a while by the sound of passing cars, something that Mae hated — she needed some peace in her life, after everything that happened last year, but suddenly she bumped into someone that looked a little too familiar for her taste.

„Lord Janitor?" Mae asked, noticing a middle-aged, cyan-coloured bird dressed in a flannel shirt, jeans and hard work boots. „You're still here?"

„What are you talking about, Miss?" the cyan-coloured bird said, „My name is Tom, not Lord Janitor. I'm fixing stuff for the Taco Buck, and you just bumped into me," Tom hawed at the cat. „Just, let me be."

„ _The hell? He looked like Lord Janitor! But wait...he would've known my name. Where IS he?"_ Mae thought as she wandered away from the strange man that resembled The Janitor and playfully kicked some leaves down the road, until she reached the Snack Falcon. She still wondered how could Gregg, Angus and Bea claim that there were many customers, when Mae barely noticed anyone inside willing to buy anything, but then she thought, _„Maybe they're invisible customers! Or maybe they come in so early I barely see them. Still, this is weeeird."_

As she entered the small shop, Gregg was standing casually behind the counter, with cups on his ears, a view that instantly threw Mae into a giggling fit. The cat knew that her best friend was really hilarious when he had, as he put it, „really up up days" and it was relieving to know that there was some hope for her in everything she did — the encounter with the cult seemed like a long, long time ago — but the fear and dread still lingered in her soul, as the fox before her warned about a possible return of the murderous cult that she never really found anything about.

It seemed like she was so phased out of reality — she didn't even hear Gregg's anxious shouts — until the latter decided to throw a cup towards Mae, hitting her in the left arm as she jolted in surprise without registering she'd been thrown a cup at. The fox's eyes were focused on Mae, and he seemed to calm himself down as his merry voice had a note of sobriety in it:

„Mae, are you ok? You were like, zoned out, dudder." Gregg said as he held his paws on Mae's shoulders.

„'m fine, Gregg," Mae said, unsure of her words, „just had some rough days, that's all."

„Dude, I know when you're lying," the fox retorted as he was now standing with his arms folded. „What's going on, really? Any more nightmares?"

„Yeah...and no," the cat said as she looked for a chair to plop herself onto. „It's about Bea."

Gregg's smile suddenly vanished as he took a chair for himself and sat next to Mae, recognizing the silent agony of someone in love, for the cat was fiddling with her paws and mumbling something under her breath. He then placed a paw over her right shoulder, and calmly asked, „What's wrong with Bea?"

„It's not that —" Mae started to say, but she shook her head in defeat. „— it's me who's wrong. I don't know why I feel like this, Gregg."

„Hm, so you're head over heels for Bea, aren't you?" the fox genuinely smiled at her friend. „I know, she's gruff and likes to pretend that she doesn't care, but she does."

He paused for a moment, giving Mae some time to speak once more.

„Are you sure? She said quite _clearly_ that she —" the cat sighed, „— she would never show interest in me, even if I'm not picky."

„You know, Mae," Gregg said, „I caught Bea staring at you sometimes, but she's always trying to avoid the fact she does."

„ _What?..."_ Mae thought for a moment, and then Selmers' poem rang into her head, _„sides of a coin,_  
 _which one to join..."_

 **(Meanwhile...)**

The cult members were standing around a carefully lit fire, listening to the music that came from the new hole, demanding them to bring more souls to consume. Eide, however, wasn't going to let Mae Borowski slip off the hook this time again, something that their leader, O'Hare, agreed to — besides, they were speaking amongst themselves in their secret language — and one of the scouts, „Shadow", by his nickname, just came back with the report.

„ _He'shari_ O'Hare," the man began to say, „I have searched through for another place."

„ _Heph'za_ Shadow,", O'Hare replied, „We cannot leave this city! Mae Borowski _still_ lives, and Ibon demands that she is killed. She may have eluded us last time, but now —"

„ _He'shari_ , if I may have a word?" one of the cult members said, „We definitely need to act when the town is at it's quietest."

„That is...like, never, _sha'ho_ Marcus," O'Hare said, lightly tapping his foot. „We need to act now, I don't care."

But just as they were arguing, the music stopped.

Instead, they heard a voice.

A voice so damp, so cold that it threatened to kill every member of the cult, and they were standing tall, yet afraid of their worshipped deity. Eide himself took a defensive stance, hoping that the order will come soon, while Shadow was talking to someone else in their secret language, and O'Hare hissed towards the others to make silence.

„ **My faithful followers..."** Ibon's voice resounded in the tunnel they were hiding in, **„You have not brought any other sacrifice to me..."**

„Great I-Ibon," O'Hare started to say, wavering in his voice, „we will! We'll bring you —"

„ **Silence."** the voice commanded. **„You need to feed me. NOW!"**

„N-now?" O'Hare's eyes widened. „But —"

„ **NOW! Or I will take one of you instead!"**

The cult members were looking at one another in fear, but then Eide roughly picked up one of them by the back of his neck and pushed him forward to O'Hare. The latter, taken aback by the sudden movement, desperately protested against Eide's intentions, „Y-you can't d-do that! I d-didn't do anything! I-I'm not Lurv!"

„The great Ibon has demanded sacrifice, _sha_ ' _ho._ And I'm not intending to cross his might," O'Hare said as he coughed. „Let's begin the ritual!"

 **(Possum Springs, in the evening)**

Steve Scriggins was smoking a new cigar as he stood on the bench outside the Sawmill Park — he was one of the few that dared to walk around those parts — and thought about how will he gain Beatrice Santello's favors, and how she'll become his lovely girlfriend. _„She won't be sayin' no to a guy like me. Nobody crosses Scriggins' path and then walks away when they want. Plus, I've been crushing on her for quite a while, since Gregg proved to be a lady. Hmph. Easier for me."_

He felt someone was watching him, and turned his head towards the strange figure that was watching in the shadows, but in the blink of an eye, the figure was gone as it appeared. Whoever it was, it seemed that it would return, so Steve decided not to waste any more time and headed towards his blue car and drove to pick Bea up, humming a tune to himself to look cool.

Meanwhile, in front of her house, Bea was smoking as well, trying to calm herself down. She wore her usual clothes, but she didn't feel too excited at the prospect of going out with Scriggins, and Mae's words were echoing in her mind with each step she took, back and forth. _„But your eyes are lying, Bea."_

„ _My eyes? What did she mean_ — _wait, she knows something I don't?"_

Beatrice knew she told Mae that there was no way she would be interested in her — but, since last year, things seemed to change bit by bit — and the way she looked at the dark cat was one of those things. In the distance, she could hear a car approaching, and groaned as it was Steve behind the wheel, mainly because Bea was now far too conflicted within to go to that party, but Steve Scriggins was set on doing this date no matter what.

„Heya, B," he said, as he opened the car's door for her, „ready to party tonight?"

„Yeah," Bea replied, a little absentminded.

„What's wrong?" Steve asked, as he was behind the wheel, „Cat got your tongue?"

„ _Scriggins, you_ — _!"_ she hissed in her mind, as she pictured herself, oddly, kissing Mae. _„Why am I seeing this?"_

„No," the female alligator replied as she placed a claw upon her ankh, and placed a new cigar between her lips. „I'm just bored, is all."

„Bored? Well, guess I'll try to be the best entertainer," the male alligator said, as he smoked as well. „So, how's your family?"

„Fine." Bea deadpanned, as she smoked some more from her cigar.

„Gee, you're not much of a talker, eh?" Steve said. „Well, we're going to Bright Harbour, a few miles from here. So, please, do me a favor, will ya?"

„What." Bea squinted her eyes as she vaped, the smoke going out on the window.

„Tell everyone you're my girlfriend, when we get there," the male alligator said as he tugged on his kaki jacket, „I want things to be right tonight."

„ _Why am I getting these very, very bad vibes about everything?"_ Bea suddenly thought as her mind wandered off to Mae once more. _„If I'm honest right now, I'd prefer being with Mae."_

„ _Who's really walking along  
When I'm alone?"_

While Bea and Steve were going to the party, Mae was hanging out with Angus and Gregg at their apartment, playing video games and eating tacos. It seemed like they were having a good time, but the dark feline's mind wandered to Bea, and hoped that she was okay — even if Scriggins was with her — because she told the two boys about Beatrice's night out with Steve, greatly taking Gregg aback and leaving Angus completely speechless.

Well, until Mae decided to break the ice, as usual.

„Gee, guys, you're taking it worse than me! I know, it's freaking Scriggins, who can choke on my entire ass!"

„Ha ha ha," Gregg laughed, „that was funny."

„It still is, Gregg! He definitely deserves it!" Mae said as she threw her arms in the air, her eyes widened.

„Steve is notorious for his crass jokes," Angus suddenly said, „hopefully Bea will be spared."

„If he does anything to her —" the cat interrupted, while Gregg and Angus looked at her in a weird way...almost smiling? „— I-I mean, who cares if he does anything to her!"

„I know you actually care, Mae. You'd rather whack Scriggins with a bat than see Bea hurt," Angus said, in his gruff voice.

„Aww, Cap'n, we're thinking the same," the fox said, beaming at the bear and drawing near to him. „guess both haven't figured it out yet."

„Figure what? " Mae asked, putting down the console's controller. „What are you implying, Gregg?"

„Mae," Angus said, „I know how you look at Bea."

Mae rolled her eyes and huffed before replying, „Damnit guys, are you spying on us? Like, how do _you_ know what's going on?"

„Dudder, it's easy to figure it out." the fox smiled coyly, „You don't even hide."

 _Choose, what to choose,_  
 _The side of right or wrong?_

„ _I_ don't hide? I think I —" the cat was interrupted by the doorbell ringing, and Angus rose from the couch to answer the door, while a familiar dark blue bird walked in and lightly greeted everyone. By the look on his face, it seemed that rough times had fallen upon him since last year, and Mae could sympathize with the bird before her, as he decided to take a seat on the couch. All while Gregg didn't really pick this up, mainly because he was happy to see him again, and Angus decided that he would go make some pancakes — at that, Mae's eyes lit up with joy.

„Your pancakes rock, Angus!" she said, excited at the prospect of eating delicious pancakes. „They should definitely call these Angus's Space-ial Pancakes!"

„Since when you're punning around?" Germ said, as he tried to stifle a laugh. „Never heard you making puns before!"

„That's because 90% of the time they suck," Mae deadpanned. „Anyway, Germ, what have you been up to?"

„Nothing much," the bird shook his head, „I'm still helping out with things."

„ _This guy really likes to keep to himself, doesn't he?"_ the dark feline thought as she lightly scratched her head and nodded in understanding. „Oh, I see. Well uh, want to play a game?"

„Yep." Germ nodded.

 **(Later that evening...)**

Bea didn't seem to be interested in what Steve was telling, as the male alligator kept talking on and on about himself and his success with things until Beatrice asked him to stop, saying that she _really_ needed some peace to think something through. It seemed like his company did nothing but remind her of the Ol' Pickaxe business, the constant berating of her father, and the fact she didn't really do anything but work, without having a chance of going to college — and Bea admitted, she somehow hated Mae for kicking her own chance away — though the feline had an excuse, as her disorder didn't help her very much. _„Like sides of a coin, I have to choose between living a life with Scriggins...or a life with Mae."_

„Oh, come on, B. You should look a little livelier —" Scriggins said, when they accidentally hit something, or rather _someone_ , because blood was splattered all over the windshield, „ _SHIT!_ "

„Great, Scriggins," Bea hissed as she got out of the car, „now we're stuck in the middle of nowhere."

„That's what _you_ 're worried about?" Steve said, rubbing his forehead, „whatever that thing was, I can't find a body or anything!"

„Huh? Wh—" Bea was about to say, when she felt something cold grabbing her from behind, and she struggled for a while until whatever that was knocked her out cold.

„B? Beatrice?" Scriggins said, noticing Bea was gone. „Shit, where is she? Have to warn those shitty friends of hers."

 _When I'm alone,  
How to atone?_

Scriggins started driving like a madman on the highway, while the interstate police was on his tail, but he knew he wouldn't stop until he'd warn Bea's friends about what happened. Somehow, he knew that they won't believe him — though he had to prove himself somehow. The sirens were still wailing behind him, but the alligator didn't care one bit, because Bea's safety was everything that mattered to Steve, as weird and hated as he was around the small town.

Mae, Angus, Germ and Gregg heard some siren wailing approaching, and hurried to the window to see whatever was going on, but then Angus remarked that it was Scriggins' car, chased by the cops, and there was some blood on the windshield. In that moment, Mae's heart skipped a beat in fear, knowing she shouldn't have left Bea with that traitorous alligator, and rushed downstairs with the three boys following her, while Scriggins skidded with his car into the nearby hydrant, a powerful jet of water flowing from the impact.

„Damn you, Scriggins," Mae started hissing as she approached the alligator, „what did you do to Bea? Where _**is**_ she?!"

„Borowski, before you —" Steve started to say, but when he noticed the three boys behind her, he decided to be polite, just for this time. „Mae, look. Bea and I were going to Bright Harbour, on the date, but then I hit someone whose body I couldn't find after that, and moments later, she was gone!"

„ **You...** " Mae growled as her eyes were narrowed in anger, „You abandoned her God-knows-where, and now it may be too late to save her! **I'm going to kill your sorry ass right now!** "

„Mae, Mae, dudder, whoa," Gregg said as he restrained Mae, „We're going with Scriggins. Germ, you'd better let the Borowskis and Bea's dad that shit hit the fan. I bet that _they_ are back, and decided to kidnap Bea."

„How can you be so sure of that, Gregg?" Mae suddenly asked, „Maybe Scriggins staged something so he poses as a hero to Bea —!"

„No, Mae. He's telling the truth, oddly as that sounds." Angus said, as he was inspecting the car closely, and seemed to make mental notes.

The two interstate officers that were chasing Scriggins approached the group, and told them that the alligator was driving like a madman — but instead of arresting him, they decided to give Steve a fine of 600 dollars — and then left them to do their biddings. Little did the four knew, the officers were actually part of the heinous cult which they thought it was destroyed when the mine collapsed.

„So, uh, why did we leave them like that? Shoulda've done our jobs," one of the officers said. „I don't like O'Hare's idea at all."

„Sounds like he was right all along about the Borowski girl..." the other said, after a pause.

„ _...She'd be willing to cross hell for Beatrice Santello."_

„ _And I'm willing to march,_  
 _March into hell,_  
 _For this glorious quest!"_

Scriggins got back in his own car, lightly huffing and puffing as he was now forced to act as a guide for the three friends of Bea's, but what really surprised him was Mae's outright furious attitude even if the latter was just her friend. Or was she really _just_ her friend? He didn't have any time to think it over, as he adjusted the rearview mirror and spat on the fact he was now tagging along to save Bea. _„Screw it, I just had to lose Beatrice like that,"_ the alligator thought as he led the way, while Mae, Gregg and Angus ran to take Bea's car, decided not to waste any time and joined Scriggins' leading car in mere minutes.

Inside Bea's car, it seemed like Mae was slowly shutting herself out as a yawn escaped her lips, — while Gregg and Angus were thinking and discussing various plans of action, — but then, minutes later, the brown bear noticed Mae fell asleep in the backseat, so he shushed his boyfriend down by pointing at the sleepy cat. „Look, Bug. She drifted off to sleep quite easily."

„Yeah, Cap'n. Seems like the whole deal with Bea hit her hard," Gregg said, as he sighed. „Do you remember when I told you I dated her, before I figured things out?"

„Yup, you told me she loved you, but when you told her that you're queer, she wasn't too excited about it." Angus said, as he kept his eyes on the road. „Still, Bea's now cool with us, and I'm cool with her."

Gregg sighed once more, and looked at the sleepy cat behind him, „Wish they'd realize how much they love one another, Cap'n. I mean, I talked to Mae after the events of last year, and she told me that she may have feelings for someone. At that point, I didn't figure it was Bea —" the fox paused for a moment, twiddling his thumbs, „— I thought it was either Germ or Daniel, or maybe Selmers."

„I see why you thought of Selmers," the bear let out a small laugh, „she and Mae also share a lot of things in common."

„Still, Mae's got herself pretty worked up, if sleeping is her defense mechanism." the fox looked at her in curiosity.

 **(Astral Plane)**

Mae found herself back into the odd plane of her dreams, and noticed that the landscape was slightly changed, for it was Possum Springs, but devoid of any other inhabitant, with just the faint shadows of street lights she could so diligently light, and silhouettes were walking with each street light that she lit — some were resembling her friends, others were resembling some other people she didn't know. But, as always, she had to find the four musicians whom she now knew they were the D.H.H, or the Deep Hollow Hollerers, though for whatever reason they were showing up in her dreams, she didn't know.

She first found the violin player, who was a short-beaked bird, and this time her violin was a soft, tender tune to which Mae seemed to smile. The cat then sought out the rest of the band, until the last one, which was the accordion player — an alligator that seemed focused on his tune — and the entire melody was enchanting, making Mae almost want to dance in her dream, but when she pushed on the small pillars that were now enlightened, she saw the Fake-Cat-God, as she dubbed him.

„Why am I back here?" Mae asked, a little angry.

„You know there's little time. Follow me back to the hole, and join me."

„Why? I don't care about your stupid — Wait, what's that sound?" Mae said, as she somehow conjured a way for herself, while the shadowy-catlike form was looking at the feline, yelling behind her.

„ **BOROWSKI!"**

 _Shwoom!_

 **(Reality)**

Mae suddenly jolted, as the engine's powerful revving awoke the cat, who blinked a few times to ensure she was back to reality, and Gregg smiled a little towards her. Angus seemed to be outside, under the lifted hood of Bea's car, and then everything came back to her in an instant. „Bea! Where's Bea?" the dark cat asked Gregg, who did nothing but point towards the road as Scriggins was busy looking somewhere in the woods, and it seemed none would care less if he would get lost.

„Goddamnit, Gregg. I will check it myself!" Mae hissed as she descended from the car, but her mind was too worked up on finding Bea. _„Beebee, they'd better not touch you, cause I'll_ — _Wait, what's that?"_ she thought as she picked up a strange, shiny object, _„Hm, looks like a coin of the 30's...The cult is behind this,"_ the feline hissed in her mind as she noticed yet another coin.

„Guys?" she called out to the two males, who were now paying attention to her. „I think our kidnapper wasn't that smart as he thought himself to be. Look, there's a trail of coins..."

„Wow, nice finding, Mae," Angus slightly smiled towards the cat, „let's follow the trail and see where it goes, right?"

Gregg jumped out of the car, excited to join this detective hunt as well — and was on the lookout for any danger — while Angus was busy keeping his asthma in check, but to Mae, following this trail of coins was like following a river that lead to Bea, and she suddenly remembered Adina Astra's story, for it felt oddly similar. The same thing was noted by the large bear, who couldn't help but compare Mae to the famous astronomer, while Gregg hummed to himself and kicked a few leaves and stones off the dirty path in the woods.

„The trail looks like it stops here," Mae said loudly. „Shit, shit, shit!"

„Did anyone see Scriggins on the way — oh, nevermind, look, there he is." Angus said, pointing to a kaki jacket visible somewhere in the distance. But as they walked closer and closer, they noticed it was _just_ the jacket, its' owner nowhere to be found, and for some reason they felt a little guilty for not looking out after Scriggins, until Angus examined the ground and discerned three sets of footsteps — two belonging to alligators, one male, one female — to which Mae's heart skipped a beat.

When Angus said that the last set of footprints was unknown, her eyes narrowed in focus. „Gotta be the cult," she hissed. „I saw that freakin' weirdo in my dream."

„Bea's trail of coins stops here, and it seems like...wait. Blood. The guy who took Bea's bleeding."

„There was blood on Scriggins' windshield," Gregg said. „Well, at least now we have a trail of blood, but I don't have cat eyes."

„I can see the trail going," Mae replied. „I'm not going to stop until I find Bea, I swear!"

„ _And there it is, that spark,"_ Gregg mentally giggled. „Awooooo, let's hunt the cult! I can't wait to kick their asses one more time!"

„Yup. Same for me." Angus said, staying close to his boyfriend. „Let's hunt them down."

 **(?)**

It was dark, that was everything Bea could notice, as the faint light of her cigarette wasn't enough to help her see. But amidst the darkness, she recognized a few of the voices, and knew she was at the mercy of the blasted cult — _„Crap, now I'm done for"_ was all Bea could think — but then, someone grabbed her by the back of her head, making her grunt in pain.

„Well, well, Beatrice Santello." a familiar hoarse voice said.

„I recognize your voice. You're Eide, aren't you?"

„Yeh, it's me," the hoarse voice of Eide's continued. „I got orders from Ibon himself to capture you, and throw you in the hole."

„And what makes you think they won't come, huh?"

„We're far too well hidden for them to find us," another voice said, „you'll be long gone by the time they arrive."

„ _Guys, you'd better arrive in time..."_ Bea thought to herself as she was busy lighting another cigarette. _„If not, I'm going to be done for...and...I..."_

„So, O'Hare's plan is to just throw her down? Just like that?" voices said, somewhere in the darkness.

„Ibon demands to be fed, and he wants to capture Mae Borowski."

„ _Mae? No...they're really after her now...sons of_ — _"_

Before Bea's thought was finished, she could hear loud shuffling, a crack, and then a familiar voice, as if somehow this date had to go on in spite of Bea's wishes that it was done already. She rolled her eyes and vaped, aware that now she had to go through suffering alongside the worst lot of Possum Springs, but he showed defiance and stubborness.

„Get off me, you damned critters!" Steve Scriggins said, „I'm nobody's damned prisoner. Where the hell am I?"

„You're standing before the cult of Ibon," Bea deadpanned. „You have no idea what kind of weirdos these guys are."

„Ibon?" Scriggins said, his voice betraying confusion. „Wasn't that thing some sort of constellation? How the heck is it —"

„Scriggins, you're an idiot," Bea said, „I have no time to explain this."

„Silence, you two," Eide cut off their talk, „you have to get ready for the ritual."

 **(Meanwhile, in the woods...)**

Mae was leading the two boys with a resolute determination running through her soul, as she wasn't going to leave Bea all by herself in the hands of the cult — her love was so obvious the two boys were slightly laughing behind her back — and it seemed the trail of blood led to yet another entrance in a dangerous mine. _„These guys have run out of original ideas,"_ Mae thought to herself as she lifted a paw, stopping Angus and Gregg in their tracks.

„Let me guess, they ran out of ideas?" Gregg said, as he noticed Mae's sardonic look. „Dude, Ibon's giving me the creeps."

„Valid for me, too." Angus simply said, nodding. „I took Bea's flashlight from the torpedo, she won't mind."

„Those dolphins are at it again..." Mae said, feeling a little hyper. „I want to lead, to kick their sorry asses again."

„Geez. You're always full of endorphins when it's about danger, too bad you didn't choke on them." the fox said, starting the usual game he and Mae played at.

„Too bad the cult didn't take you instead," the cat said, waiting for a good comeback.

„Too bad Bea didn't confess to you." Gregg said, teasing Mae.

„...Can we go now?" Angus broke the weird joking game between the two.

The entrance to the mine was eerily similar to the one they've been in last year, except this mine looked like it was full of gold — or perhaps it was _the fool's gold_ — as small nuggets of gold could be spotted here and there by Angus, while Gregg was worried about Mae, because he's never seen her so willingly to go into danger.

It wasn't like she was stranger to danger, but this time it was very, very different.

This time, the danger wasn't looming over Possum Springs, it was looming over their friend's life, and Mae wasn't going to throw away this chance at confessing her love, no matter if Bea accepted it or not. _„Geez, if Cap'n would've been in Bea's place, I'd cross hell with the cult myself."_ the fox allowed the small thought to form, while the cat was suddenly held in place by a dreadful headache, yelling in pain. _„Mae!"_ both Angus and Gregg rushed to her, noticing that instead of her normal eyes, Mae's „Nightmare Eyes" came to life, and the cat immediately grabbed an old bat lying somewhere in the tunnel. Bear and fox exchanged a worried look, as her pain seemed to be what moved her further, feeling like she could find the way on her own.

„Let's just follow her, Bug," Angus said, „She's slipping through reality, and we'd better not stand in her way."

„Geez. She looks awfully mad, I haven't seen her like this since Durkillersburg." Gregg said. „She's going to wreck the cult in two."

Meanwhile, Bea and Scriggins were assisting to the weird ritual of the cult, as they started dancing in movements that resembled the brownian ones, something that Steve Scriggins simply huffed at. He wasn't going to let the date go to waste, so he knew he had to confess on his own, he had to make his feelings known, even if he was loathed by everyone.

„B?" his voice called out.

„What do you want, Scriggins?" she replied, a little cold.

„I want to tell you that —" Steve gulped a little in anticipation, „— that I love you, Beatrice Santello."

„ _Weird thing is, I don't, Steve Scriggins."_ Bea thought as she vaped from her cigarette, and decided to voice the thought in her mind, for she wasn't truly straight anymore since Mae was back in town, and changed her life for the better. With a neutral-leaning-towards-angry tone, she replied: „Funny, I don't share your feelings, Scriggins."

„But, aren't you —" he tried to process the rejection that just went his way, when a loud crash could be heard behind them, not very far from the cult's hideout. Bea secretly hoped it was Mae and the others, for she did really want to hug the cat, whose presence meant the world to the female alligator, and placed a claw over her ankh.

Mae's Nightmare Eyes were visible through the darkness, a view that slightly startled Scriggins, while Bea smiled in joy as the feline was willing to risk everything for her — and then, behind Mae, there were Angus and Gregg, who held one another's hands for reassurance. Knocking down the two guards standing next to Beatrice and Scriggins, Angus and Gregg rushed to free the two prisoners, while Mae stood before the cult, separated by a bridge above the hole.

„Leave Bea out of all this. This turned personal when you took her from me."

„Ha ha ha, Mae Borowski. You've decided to save your little friends?" O' Hare's voice rang through the darkened tunnel, his face barely lit by the fire — it was a rabbit that had a scar under his right eye — but Mae wasn't going to concede this easy.

„The first time, I thought I killed you. But no, you survived well, and Ibon's demanding his sacrifices once more. You're like a side of the coin that won't stop pushing to land on itself, while I'm the other, that has to keep balance." the cat said, remembering Selmers' poem. „Unlike you, I have a choice. And I choose to stop crossing paths with you."

„You don't understand, Borowski," Eide said, „your family is doomed to become Ibon's food one day."

„No, we're not."

„We'll see about that, Borowski..."

O' Hare ordered Eide and the others to chase the five, who started running for their life in the darkened tunnel — Gregg noted, strangely, that this was the second time they did this — but right then, Angus was losing more and more his pace. The fox looked quite worriedly towards his lover, and turned to pick him up, determined not to let the cult get him as well, for Angus was his corner, was his everything, just as Bea was Mae's everything, even if the latter pair was still slow in admitting their love.

„You're not going to get us!" Gregg roared at the chasing phantoms, while Scriggins threw his cigarette at an old oil spot, making a wall of fire between themselves and the cult — which was good, but at the same time, everyone berated him for putting them all in danger — and Mae was looking with worry as one of Bea's legs was suddenly trapped by a falling boulder, moment in which the feline rushed to lift the boulder, alongside Scriggins.

„Don't worry, Beebee, I'm going to get us out of here!" Mae roared as she pushed the boulder, with all of her strength, alongside the male alligator. „I'm not going to let my _girlfriend_ get eaten by a weird demon-goat-cat whatever that is!"

Scriggins's eyes widened as he heard the word Mae used for Bea, so he figured that Bea must've also been queer, and started scoffing at the two. „Hahaha, you too? Well, shit, no wonder you pretend to know so much about tools —" but then he was cut off by a punch from Bea.

„We'll talk outside, Scriggins." the female alligator hissed.

After a long run through the collapsing tunnel, the five were back in the woods, under a beautiful sunrise as the sun was gently caressing the treetops, and a zephyr moved the branches back and forth. Birds of all kind were chirping in the trees, while shadows of animals could be seen within the forest — it seemed like nature itself was cheering on their second victory.

However, it was not going to last, but a really strange phrase went through Mae's mind as they were travelling through the woods:

 _„Thee who chooseth me must risk it all."_

* * *

 **Woo, their meeting with the cult was quite similar, wasn't it?**  
 **Like I said, the guys ran out of ideas. But the Borowskis are in for sacrifice, it seems.  
**

 **And, I believe something is going on with Mae and Bea, don't you think?**  
 **I know, some of you may not ship the two, but I believe they're cute together.**

 **See ya until the next prompt, dear readers!**


	5. Crimes (A Few Spoilers)

**Wow, a thousand readers and six reviews? I'm moved by this amazing support!**

 **Keep these coming, you're the best!**

 **Since we do not have an official name for the Granddad** — **I thought the name would suit him just right! :)**

 **The prompt was a little difficult, but that gave me a little leeway for some short bond between Mae/Gregg and Angus/Bea.  
**

 **And of course, the animosity between Mae and Scriggins is getting darker...**

 **I hope you guys will enjoy it!**

* * *

 **CRIMES**

Days after meeting the cult, the four friends were starting to resume their day-to-day life — except for Bea, who had to go to the hospital in search of her father — but the tale of their adventure seemed to go around town, and Mae groaned at the thought she will have to face out the sneers and snarky comments of the town folk for calling Bea "her girlfriend". The dark feline believed, much like Gregg, that the tale will soon subside.

But the Borowskis — her father and mother — took the cult's warning with a grain of salt, as it seemed Stan didn't know that much of what his father did during his youth. Ainsley Borowski was a strange character, of that Mae was certain, but she loved his ghost stories, she was quite sure he almost lived a few of these himself. His way of storytelling was so vivid; it carried Mae away to the dreamland of spooky stuff, like the one time she dreamt she was inside a train full of ghosts that didn't really mean any harm, but their appearance was enough to make her eyes widen in some sort of fear. It was then she started seeing the musicians — at first, just the violin player — but she enjoyed the music she heard, it was soothing her throughout the pain she went, when her granddad Ainsley died.

Now, she was focused on doing the right things for herself, and amongst them, doing small crimes with Gregg was what she needed right now. She opened the computer to the chatbox, noticing that Bea and her fox friend did leave a few messages over the night — but she froze before the messages coming from Bea.

[ladanseducerceuil]: Mayday...

[ladanseducerceuil]: I'm going to the hospital. Dad's not feeling well.

[ladanseducerceuil]: If you want to come by…please do.

" _It seems like the whole deal with Bea affected her ol' man, after all…"_ Mae let a stray thought form into her mind, her paws slightly clenching as she longed to hold Bea in her arms, even if the latter was still slow at getting what was going on between them. _"I have this warm feeling in my body whenever I am close to her, I guess that's what love is? I have no effing idea!"_

[greggthesnalconlord]: Hey, dudder!

[greggthesnalconlord]: Angus is staying at home with me.

[greggthesnalconlord]: I'm not even openin' the Snalcon. Just…taking a break

[greggthesnalconlord]: See ya at band practice.

Mae went downstairs as she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, it was like everything changed in a split second — from a normal moment to a downright spiral of events — and threatened to ruin her life. _"Nope. Not going to let the cult do anything anymore,"_ she thought as she reached for the kitchen, where her mother was reading from a new book, a blue one.

"Hi, mom," the small feline greeted as she jumped on the counter. "What are you reading?"

"Ah, it's something Pastor K recommended to me," Candy Borowski said, smiling. "you should read it too, when you have time."

"Yeah, I guess," Mae said, a little absentminded. "I'm going to check on Bea…"

"Wait, Mae. I heard something going around town…Is it true you're queer?" her mother said, carefully choosing her words.

"Y-yeah? I dunno, maybe people like to —" the small feline didn't want to tread on the subject, until she saw her mother looking at her in an almost accusing way.

"Mae, I'm not going to judge you, but…" Candy Borowski said, a little shaken up by the news, "Do consider that I'm —"

"Mom. I don't want to have kids. Ever." Mae deadpanned. "And for the record, yeah, I **am** queer."

"I see." Her mother conceded, albeit reluctantly. "You're still my baby, Mae."

"Sure, Mom," the small cat replied, jumping off the counter. "See ya later!"

As Mae went outside, she noticed that Mr. Twigmeyer was sitting on the veranda, puffing from a pipe and reading the local newspaper. The goat paused from his reading to greet Mae, while asking her to join him for a moment, as he knew just how troubled the young one seemed to be, and the strained relationship she had with her parents. The Borowskis' other neighbor, Mr. Penderson, was not as tolerant and kind towards Mae — hissing at her and throwing whatever he could to chase her away from his courtyard — something Mr. Twigmeyer tried hard to instill in the old alligator.

"Well, Mae, what is troubling you?" Ambrose Twigmeyer said, as he looked at the feline with his curious green eyes.

Mae blinked a little before replying, "It's just what's happening with Bea, and everythin'." She couldn't help sighing as she admitted there was no way to fully explain what was going in her mind, but the goat was serenely smiling, making the cat at ease.

"Ah. Youth and its' perks, its' disasters," Mr. Twigmeyer said with a laugh. "You'll figure things out with young Bea. She seems to genuinely like you."

At that, the small cat's eyes were widened in shock, but the goat simply dusted his green jacket and went back in his house, leaving her on the veranda as she tried to process what was just passed to her. Was her neighbor that perceptive about whatever was going between herself and Bea? And how could he be so serene about it, when queer folks weren't exactly seen well in Possum Springs?

…That was going to hang over Mae's head for quite a while.

She then rose from the welcoming veranda, set on making things up with Bea. No matter what happened, Mae wasn't going to give up on her — and she made that obvious when saving the female alligator from the cult. The cat clenched one of her paws in fury, remembering _how_ Bea ended up being before the cult in the first place.

Scriggins was going to pay dearly for the peril he put Bea through.

Mae enjoyed the somewhat serene atmosphere that enveloped the small town, and set on walking slowly towards the hospital. She had a lot to think on, much more than she ever knew — and it wasn't just the threat of the murder cult, no — it was the idea of Gregg and Angus moving on, the idea of Beatrice possibly leaving her, too, the idea of love that was just blooming in her heart. She wanted to do everything she could to make sure that Bea was feeling alright, and somehow, make all of this work between them — something Mae was completely unaware it happened to Bea, too.

But then, she reminded herself of how completely off-putting Bea was last year, despite the fact Mae gave a lot of her time to the female alligator — it was as if Bea couldn't really get herself together — and mainly because there was a hint of hate aimed towards the feline. Though, Mae remembered that she told the alligator that she dropped college because it lacked the sorely missed familiarity she was used to, while Bea was a little jealous and ready to jump the gun because she wanted to go to college more than anything.

Now, seeing that Bea had to look after her dad in the hospital, the feline believed that this wasn't what her would-be-lover wanted anymore — she confided in Mae that night, that she didn't want to leave town because she didn't want to turn her back on her father, despite Mae's attempts at showing her she had to take everything in her hands — but the female alligator was content on saying that the feline was acting like an ungrateful child.

" _All I'm saying, you shouldn't just stay there and take it."_ Mae remembered that night so vividly; she could almost feel the tension rising between herself and Beatrice. But each time, the female alligator lying on her bed cut through it with a cold, emotionless voice, the feline was almost hurt that she'd shown so much concern for her — but then again, she had a vague understanding of what Bea meant. Her love — well, in a one-sided way, for the moment — didn't really have any choice in the matter, as much as she would've wanted to escape, while Mae's mind was simply screaming at her, _"Just, she needs to self-loathe so much! Do something, Mae Borowski, save her from all of this!"_

Mae's mind was so wrapped up on the events of that night; she didn't even notice Gregg standing in front of his and Angus's block of apartments. The fox was quick to notice something was troubling the cat, so he decided to make her smile, as much as he could, because he didn't want to see her fall down into the abyss she sorely fought to get out of. Besides, there was something on the fox's mind that included Mae in it…

"Dudder! Nice to see you, too bad you didn't trip and fall!" Gregg said, smiling mischievously.

"Too bad you didn't get burned." Mae retorted, slightly laughing.

"Too bad you weren't crushed by a giant dinosaur." Gregg continued as he laughed.

"Too bad you weren't taken by aliens," Mae deadpanned. "Look, as much as I like our little game—"

"Where is burning, why are you rushin'?" the fox raised an eyebrow in curiosity, only to realize it seconds later. "Oh, wait."

"Yeah, going to check on Bea," the dark-coated cat said, gently dusting her long-sleeved shirt. "I hope she's fine…"

She paused.

"Hey, dude," Gregg said, "I know she's going to appreciate big time you're there."

Mae was standing in silence, trying to understand if Bea was really going to _take it_ , as she put it once, if Bea was going to accept that Mae was hopelessly — or so she thought — in love with her. Many, many thoughts, unspoken words were going through her mind, as she smiled towards Gregg and waved him goodbye. All this effort…

…was going to pay off in the end.

Or was it?

She almost felt like she was committing a crime against Bea.

But little did she know, she was about to commit a real crime…

 **(Later, at the hospital)**

For a moment, she was hesitant to enter the rather large building that had a large billboard over it, saying, "Possum Springs Hospital". The whole atmosphere was a little strange; the chilliness of the air mixed with the cloudy weather was enough to set Mae in a good mood, somehow, and as she entered the large hall, the feline caught a whiff of disinfectants, heard the sound of footsteps here and there, watched doctors rushing all over the place. But what rang in her ears were the screams of patients that had grievous wounds, and for a split second, she was about to collapse in there herself.

" _Bea. I have to find out where she is."_ Mae thought as she headed towards the reception desk, where one of the nurses — a goat dressed in a green lab coat — was busy filing up some recent cases, and the feline simply pressed on the shiny, silver bell that stood on the white desk. It gave out a gentle _bing_ sound, making the goat dart her blue eyes towards the feline — her gaze seemed to soften instantly at such a sight — and approached Mae with a smile.

"What can I do for you, Miss?"

"I'm looking for Mr. Santello — Cyrus Santello," Mae paused, holding her head in pain.

"Ah, are you a relative or —" the goat paused, noticing the feline's behavior, and helped her stand. "Are you feeling ok?"

"No. But I'm taking my meds. Please, I need to know where Mr. Santello is." the cat said, looking at the nurse almost pleadingly.

"He's in room 116. Please, do not disturb the young lady who stands next to his bed. She expressed her wish that she would stay all night, and one day, near him."

" _Woah…Bea's really concerned…and sad…"_ the feline thought for a moment before thanking the nice nurse, and headed towards the stairs. It was just one floor, thankfully, and the entire floor seemed quiet, as nobody was in sight, so Mae started counting the rooms at her own pace. _"112…no, it's not it….113…"_ she kept telling herself until her eyes spotted the correct number, _"116. That must be it,"_ but when she stopped in front of the ward's window, she noticed Bea standing next to her father, holding his large claw/hand, and had a claw/hand over her ankh.

It was both a sorry sight and a moment that made the feline's gaze soften, but she couldn't dawdle on the emotions that rose in her heart, for another headache made its' way through Mae's mind, yet the dark cat wasn't going to let it topple her. Holding a paw to her head, and lightly scratching the glass, she made her way towards the door, only to be greeted by Bea, — who looked absolutely devastated, in Mae's eyes — as she helped the feline sit on a chair to recover from her infuriating headache. But Mae didn't want to add to Bea's concerns, so she let herself fall into the alligator's claws/hands, the latter's gaze softening as she noticed the genuine affection coming from the cat.

"Thanks for coming, Mayday," Bea said, in a low voice, not wishing to disturb her father. "I appreciate it."

"O-Of course I'd come, Bea," Mae said, too busy relishing the comfort of her would-be-love's arms.

"Well, are you feeling any better?" the female alligator said, feeling the cat lightly rubbing against her, giving out a somewhat audible purr.

"Mrrhm," the feline replied. "Uh, s-sorry, I-I —"

"It's fine, Mayday," Bea laughed, as she sat on the chair next to her father. "Did Gregg say anything about band practice?"

"Not yet," Mae said, slightly scratching the back of her head, "guess he wants to make sure we're all there."

After that, they stood in silence for a long time, many questions rising in their minds, yet they didn't want to give way to conflicting feelings. Mae was still thinking back at what Mr. Twigmeyer said and how nonchalant he seemed to be about the whole thing, while Bea was dreadfully questioning herself, her wants, her needs, and with each supposed answer she gave herself, she didn't feel any better. But their silence was disturbed when someone knocked on the ward's door, and to the two girls' surprise, it was none other than Steve Scriggins, who looked quite tired himself. Mae suddenly had the urge to knock him down and draw blood, while Bea was eyeing the male alligator with curiosity as she had a faint idea of _why_ he came all the way down here.

"Steve Scriggins," Bea said, with a scoff. "Came to apologize for putting me in danger the other day?"

"Bea, I was —" he paused, looking at the alligator girl with blue, scared eyes, "— afraid you're not okay."

"Mae came here to make sure I'm fine," she deadpanned, while Mae was somehow boiling with fury inside. "Good to know you're a supporting friend."

" _Friend?!"_ Scriggins thought as his eyes narrowed in disbelief, _"Does she not see how much I care_ — _"_ and then he let out a resigning sigh, knowing that he had to choose a different path. _"If you don't want to have me, then not even Mae will have you."_

"Scriggins," Mae slightly hissed at him, "you're lucky I'm here to see to Bea's welfare —"

"Mae. It's fine, let him be," Bea said, then looked at Steve Scriggins one more time, "he's just here to say 'hi, speedy recovery for your dad, and I'm gone.' Right, Scriggins?"

"Wh —" the male alligator wanted to say, but then he noticed Mae's Nightmare Eyes slowly manifesting themselves. "R-Right, speedy recovery for your dad! B-bye!"

Bea then turned to Mae, whose eyes were still a little nightmare-like, and smiled. "That will do."

 **(After two hours…)**

Gregg looked at the two girls before him, and slightly laughed. He knew that Bea wasn't going to come with them, though the female gator was pleased to go at the Clik Clak Diner with Angus, and catch up with the brown bear while Mae and Gregg were back to their usual 'crimes', something neither Bea nor Angus really agreed with.

"Ok. See ya at band practice, Bug," the brown bear said, as he hugged his lover. "Don't do anything stupid."

"Sure, Cap'n!" the fox said, excitedly flailing his arms. "C'mon Mae, it's —"

" **Crimes time!** " both yelled in excitement as this was really going to be the best day — and night — they spent together in Possum Springs. The thrill of doing small pranks with Gregg was enough to make Mae happy again — well, as happy as she could be — but she still had that feeling something bad was about to happen, and she really hated that after they saw the cult once more.

"So, uh, with what do you want to start, Mae?" Gregg asked, as they stood on a bench, near the statue built in memory of World War One's heroes.

"Let's go to the Food Donkey, see what more we can find. I hope Scriggins's not loitering around there." Mae looked a little angry as she mentioned the male alligator.

"Nah, he's busy, I'm sure." the fox said, a tone of certainty in his voice.

 **(Meanwhile…)**

"So, tomorrow night?" a female voice said.

"Yeah, I trust that Ibon's pleased for now." O'Hare said. "Eide's been gone for a while, I hope he didn't do anything stupid."

"You know he always does things out of your paws, He'shari." Shadow's voice could be heard in the darkness. "He's never listening to any of us."

O' Hare was more and more nervous with each hour that passed, and he was visibly irritated by the way his voice sounded. He knew just one thing, he had just one task.

To destroy the Borowskis' legacy, once and for all…

But he knew, as much as the others, that this was not going to be easy.

Not when they knew so much.

 **(At the Food Donkey)**

Mae was somewhat happy to be back in here, because that meant she could wreck havoc and there was no way she could be held responsible for it, and Gregg was more than happy to see her anger being fully unleashed. It was somehow both a marvel, and a terrifying sight to behold — he knew just how she earned her nickname of 'Killer' — and how lucky she got that she didn't get arrested for good.

Then again, Mae didn't care about many things, to say the least.

"I want to smash things, like, really want to." the feline said, moving her paws in a grabbing manner, just like kittens would do. "Oh, a conveniently placed bat," she grinned, taking the large baseball bat.

"I'm going to scavenge something for you to smash," the fox said, a cunning smile on his face. "And they're all just a few cents! So, it's nothing to worry about, heheh!"

"Ok, Gregg." Mae nodded, staying with her bat at the ready, while Gregg started throwing whatever he could find — cans, bottles, glasses, and small mirrors — and with each throw, the feline was pleased to aim her bat and hear the delightful sound of things smashed.

It was quite cathartic, it helped her release her pent-up anger against the cult, against Scriggins, but she knew that her anger demanded more and more with each object Gregg threw at her. But the fox seemed a little hesitant about something — Mae noticed he's not fully enjoying the crimes time — and she stopped, controlling the anger within.

"Gregg, what's bothering you?" her voice rang, as she slightly supported the bat on her left shoulder.

"I wanted to talk to you about my nightmares," the fox said with some hesitation, "Angus knows about them, but you know better what they mean."

"I'm all ears, _Greggory_ ," Mae smiled.

"I was in a weird variant of Possum Springs, and I saw them singing to me." Gregg paused, waiting for his friend's reaction.

Mae was content to listen, so she didn't say another word until Gregg finished his story.

"And then, one of them talked to me, in a cryptic manner…" he sighed, as he threw away an empty bottle he was holding in his left paw. "Said that you are going to get killed, alongside your family, and there's nothing you can do to stop it."

"I see…" Mae was about to say, until a voice made the two freeze up.

" **The fuck do you think you're doing in here, huh?"**

In that instant, Mae felt the adrenaline raising within her, along with yet another headache, making her see shapes before her in the shadows. She let out a furious growl as she charged towards the shapes she saw, while Gregg stood there with wide eyes — he knew that it was Durkillersburg all over — and he did nothing to stop the rampage Mae was getting herself into.

" **What are you doing, Borowski?** "Scriggins hissed at her, trying to stop the hurling bat that aimed for his arms, and then, his face.

He sure as hell didn't know what made the feline attack him so suddenly.

"Go away, go away, go away! I'm sick of you haunting me!" Mae was hissing at the shadow before her. "I'm going to whack you until you're nothing but **gone!** "

"M-Mae…?" Gregg tried to call out to her, but it was clear that there was no turning back. She had to fight the shadow — which was in fact Steve Scriggins — in order to stop that anger within.

"I'm sick of you harassing me, harassing Bea! **Leave us alone!** "

" **Wh— What the heck, Borowski?!"** Steve was pitifully defending himself, but nonetheless he was covered in bruises until he saw an opening and knocked Mae out cold.

"MAE!" Gregg said, picking up the unconscious feline, and then narrowed his eyes towards the male alligator. "Damn it, Scriggins, one punch and you just threw her down. You should be lucky that she didn't kill you."

"Please, she couldn't kill me even if she wanted to," the bruised alligator scoffed. "I'm outta here. And I'm going to the police, it's about time someone taught you a lesson, Borowski."

 **(At the Clik Clak Diner)**

It seemed that Angus and Bea were quite short on topics to discuss after a while — or so it seemed, at first — until Angus decided on speaking about the paranormal and everything that happened to them so far. Bea's mind was all over the place, though, as she was worried about her father and the whole business at the Ol' Pickaxe, not to mention that should her father be gone, everything would've turned for worse.

Especially because of that guy who abused Bea when she was younger, and despite that, he was still in the crew — she couldn't help but remember Mae's horrified face — but the female alligator tried to focus on the small hangout at claw/hand.

"Uh, Bea? Are you even paying attention?" Angus said, pushing his glasses. "You seem a little tense."

"Sorry, Angus. I guess the whole deal with Mae, the cult..." Bea trailed off, putting a claw over her ankh.

"It's fine," the bear said, a little guttural. "I think over that every now and then."

"I still need to improve the software for the bass," the female gator said, a little smiling. "I know Mae's not terrible at it, but I still want to make it sound better."

Just as the two were busy chattering away, Germ walked in the diner, seemingly disturbed by something, and Angus's eyes narrowed behind his glasses. There was something off going on with Germ — everyone in their gang noticed he looked awfully tired and hiding something — but Angus was almost certain there was more to it.

 _"I wonder what's really going on..."_

Meanwhile, in town, Selmers was busy composing another poem, as she playfully swung her legs back and forth, the idea in her mind was just too cool to ignore. She couldn't help thinking about Casey, as they were quite close together, and when she thought — at first — that the male orange cat must've gone with the train, a poem about the railroad came to mind. " _I miss you…and now that I know some mysterious assholes killed you…"_ she thought, as she let out a small sigh, and then she noticed two out of the three Harley kids running towards her. They looked a little panicked, and Selmers put aside her notebook.

"What's up, what happened?"

"Ada…Ada just disappeared!"

* * *

 **I know what you're thinking. "** _ **Selmers and Casey? What the heck is this author thinking?"**_

 **But, since she _was_ married prior, I like to think that the guy found out she cheated on him with Casey.**

 **I dunno, it's merely a headcanon.**

 **Hopefully, the next prompt will be interesting, and give way to this particular pair.**

 **Until then, readers!**


	6. Railroad

**First off, I'm sorry for the delay in updating this little cutie.  
I will try to stick to my schedule, but it's kinda difficult sometimes.**

 **This is actually the first prompt that doesn't have any spoilers! Wow, I feel glad.**

 **However, I didn't cover the railroad theme as much as I wanted to.**  
 **Though I could bring out some ideas that were suggested to me by Kingdom Infinity.**

 **You can suggest your own headcanons through PM if you wish (I'm sorry if some contradict mine), and they maebea (may be) in future prompts!**

 **I hope this is enjoyable!**

* * *

 **RAILROAD**

" _If you love someone then tell them right away; because after missing the train there is no use of yelling that you had a ticket."_

It took some time for Selmers to actually process the words that Jamie and Mark told her, that Ada, the middle child of the Harley family, vanished without trace. Knowing them, she probably hid somewhere and didn't want to believe any of the words — but the two looked at her in an almost panicky way, so she couldn't say anything — then again, they liked their pranks far too much sometimes. _„Perhaps the Trolleyside News salesman knows something...after all, these little critters have stolen pretzels from him,"_ she thought after calming the two children down in the best way possible.

„Stay inside, lock the door, don't open unless it's me or your folks, ok?"

„Mhm," both children nodded as they went inside, while Selmers sighed to compose herself, _„This can't be good at all."_

She also noticed it was a little colder than usual, so she was thankful that the hoodie she wore was fluffy enough to protect her from the chilliness, but going solo on an investigation wasn't that fun at all. _„Casey...I remember when we used to walk around and debate all sorts of theories."_ the brown female bear thought as the image of her late lover was coming in her mind. He used to be such a cool cat, discarding any rule, living life to the fullest, but it seemed that kind of livelihood didn't really bid well for him — others saw him as someone who won't be missed — and she clenched her paw in anger.

She hated herself that day, when they argued, as she didn't have a chance to say goodbye, _„As stubborn and tough you tried to be that day, you were suffering as much as I did."_ Eventually, after a while, Selmers saw the beginning of the Trolley Tunnel and went in, her mind still full of memories and thoughts, but the dog behind the counter was again in a bad mood meaning that someone stole some pretzels — again.

„Hmph," the black poodle said, arranging his toque. „Again, and again. I am too tired for this damned job!"

„Mr. Karkovski..." Selmers said, a little hesitant.

„Ah, dear Selma!" Mr. Karkovski greeted the black poodle, his red eyes glinting with curiosity. „What brings you here?"

„Have you seen Ada Harley around here?"

„Agh, one of those brats?" the black poodle said, placing a paw to his forehead. „No, I haven't. But you could ask Fisherman Jones over there."

„Yeah, sure. Thanks, Mr. Karkovski!" Selmers said, waving to the black poodle.

It seemed that the deer was focused on making a new poem, for he was thinking about Possum Springs, generally. She knew that Mr. Jones wasn't eager to let people hear his poems, but he had no problem reciting them in the Poetry Society she was also part of — maybe that was because he wanted to keep his recent creations a secret until they were revealed, something the female bear could understand.

„ _Ah, the railroad,_

 _It goes all abroad_

 _But how can I say_

 _The way it sways?_

 _Stay with me, oh,_

 _It's never enough_

 _To see you gone_

 _So long, begone!"_

Clearing her throat, she startled the deer, but when he recognized a fellow member of the Poetry Society, he seemed to relax. „Selma Ann. I thought it was someone else eavesdropping. I hate it when people eavesdrop—"

„Stay cool, Mr. Jones," she sighed, „I wanted to ask if you saw Ada Harley around. You know, a dark brown cat, with a pink shirt, blue pants and white shoes?"

She paused, waiting for the deer to reply, as he set aside his fishing pole and looked at her.

„Might've heard footsteps, but all are too common and forgettable — all that noise often covers the faint _splat_ sound made by the fishes in the tunnel, and I hate this."

„So neither you, nor Mr. Karkovski saw her..." she trailed off, realizing that Ada's disappearance was going to hang over her like Damocles' sword. „Thanks, Mr. Keith Jones."

„No problem, Ms. Forrester." the deer curtly nodded before returning to his fishing.

„ _Gotta ask around, see if someone saw her. This is gonna be a hell of a day..."_ the female bear thought as she shook her head and dug her paws in the purple hoodie she was wearing.

 **(Meanwhile...)**

While Selma Ann Forrester, or Selmers, was leading her investigation in Ada's disappearance, the police force of Possum Springs started an investigation surrounding the disappearance of Molly Borowski, one of their former colleagues. All they knew, at this point, was that she looked after her niece Mae to keep her out of trouble — and it seemed she did a fine job at it — but last year the large feline went missing, with the Borowskis failing to report that to the station.

Something was definitely amiss for most of them — especially for an orange tabby, who was a former military man, and the uncle of Casey Hartley. It weighed heavily on his heart that he lost another person he was close to, because his nephew was the joy of his heart even if his parents often disagreed with the style of life Casey had. He also knew that the young man got himself involved with Selma Ann, while she was still married to a douchebag bear named Lance Rutherford.

The old tabby's name was Pat Hartley, and he was one of the best detectives in the force. He was also in love with Molly Borowski, which is why he started the investigation himself...

...but so far, he and his assembled team came up with scarce evidence. He even had in mind to question the Borowskis, but he knew about young Mae's condition and general behavior, and Pat was literally having his paws tied.

„Mr. Hartley?" an officer called out to him, as she stood before his desk. „Let us question the Borowskis. I'm sure they know something, why haven't they reported anything?"

„Look, Martha," Pat Hartley said, as his blue eyes were staring at the fox before him, „I'm not saying we shouldn't, but I doubt they really know what happened. In fact, we might get something more about Molly —"

 _Ring! Ring!_

„Hello? Possum Springs PD, detective Pat Hartley speaking." the tabby's voice rang. „Yes. No. What? Local history? Ok. I'll check it out. Thanks."

„What is it, sir?" the fox named Martha questioned. „A new lead on the case?"

„Yeah, apparently one of our boys said that we should dig in the past to learn about Molly's disappearance. Odd that he said that..."

„Why, sir?"

„ _Because I didn't like his tone at all..."_

 **(?)**

„Let me go! Please, let me go!" Ada shrieked, as she was held by a mysterious man. „I-I just want to go home to Mom and Dad! P-Please!"

„It's kinda late for that, little miss," O'Hare's voice said. „They'll not remark your absence, and even if they do, they'll not find us."

„Wh-what kind of m-monsters are you?!" she yelled, as the mysterious man brought her closer to the fire.

„We said, last year, that our target was none of the families in Possum Springs. But...Ibon demands his sacrifices, demands to be fed so he can get out of that hole." O'Hare continued, as he pointed with his white paw, barely visible through the darkness, towards even more darkness. „You can't see it, but it's there."

„He'shari, are you sure you want to disturb the town's life like this?" Shadow asked, somewhere from the crowd. „I know we're better hidden this time, —"

He paused for a moment, as if feeling the harsh gaze of his leader upon him.

„— Apart from the Borowski family, but this threatens to become a crisis."

„What? What do you want to do with them?" Ada asked.

„ **Silence!** " O'Hare roared. „You are our prisoner, and you're not leaving this place **alive.** "

„He'shari! She's naught but a child," a female voice rang from within the crowd. „Please, let her live, she doesn't deserve this fate."

„Are you questioning my authority, Jackie?" O'Hare said. „I am Thane O'Hare, and I'm the descendant of Ed Shudder. At first, he said that we shouldn't take anyone who'd be missed. **I say different!** I say we give to Ibon whatever he wants!"

Among the crowds, there was a lot of whispering and talk. He did have _„the glimmer"_ , but in some ways, what he brought forth spelled complete insanity...

...He seemed to have devoted his entire zeal to pleasing Ibon.

However, Eide was again nowhere to be seen...

 **(Somewhere in the woods...)**

This wasn't going to be easy, of that much he was aware. There was no way to really contact those people, and they were always on the road, but for some reason, he could recognize a familiar face among „The Crusties", as these ol', poor travellers were called.

His long-lost uncle, Walt Warton.

„ _He must know about all that ghost thing. Gran'ma spoke in riddles, and half of the time I didn't get them. Shit..."_ he thought, arranging his cap and gazing through the woods. He could swear he saw some eyes glistening in the darkness, watching him, but then the dark-colored bird walked inside, locked the doors, the windows, and kept dynamite under his pillow — something that Mae found odd — though Germ had his own fears.

The eyes kept watch on the house, and after a while, they faded into the darkness. It seemed like this was just a mere warning for things to happen, and somehow Germ's uncle was one of the answers to the whole idea of the cult — while Germ's cousins knew very little about the danger that seemed to form and loom once more over the little town.

„ _This guy...is next. His grandmother passed on to him a lot of things, and maybe_ — _or maybe not_ — _he figured it out. Bah, I have to tell He'shari Thane about all of this. But...I also have to send a warning to those bastards."_

 **(Mae's House, Possum Springs)**

Mae had a terrible nightmare, the night before, and she was still a little cautious about herself. The nightmare had her and Bea driving madly on the highway, as if running away from something, or rather, someone, and then they crashed into a wall, prompting the feline to open her eyes wide and place a paw over her rapidly beating heart. _„What a nightmare..."_ she thought as she took in the surroundings and let out a sigh, but the fear of the moment was gone as she sat before her laptop, seeing that her friends left some messages for her.

[ladanseducerceuil]: Hey Mae.

[ladanseducerceuil]: At the Ol'Pickaxe.

[ladanseducerceuil]: Feel free to come by.

[greggthesnalconlord]: Hey dudder

[greggthesnalconlord]: We're short of one band practice

[greggthesnalconlord]: If you wanna come, I'll be at the Snalcon, workin'.  
[greggthesnalconlord]: Sincerely, Greggory.

„ _That ‚Sincerely, Greggory' always makes me laugh,"_ Mae smiled at the message, _„and Angus's away message is quite strange."_

[angusthedtbear]: -AWAY MESSAGE- This thing doesn't look good at all. What the actual eff is going on with him?

„ _Gee, I hope he and Gregg actually make it out of Possum Springs. Even if a part of me kinda breaks inside."_ the cat mused before closing the laptop and headed downstairs, not before checking the small bookcase of ghost stories and picking up „The Stoat on Gallows Hill". It was a spooky story about a stoat whose family was gone in a mysterious accident, and he comes back to visit the house, located in Gallows Hill — oddly enough, except the first details, she felt like the stoat with no name that had to brave out terrifying sights and hallucinations.

She held the book close to her, aiming to give it to Bea, as a small gift to help the latter pass the time — well, when she didn't have customers — and her mother raised her eyes from the red book she was reading, noticing Mae's general appearance and the book she was holding.

„Hi there, sweetie!" the larger female cat greeted her daughter as her gaze was following the smaller cat.

„Hi, mom," Mae replied, after a short pause to compose herself, „How are you?"

„Reading this book I picked up," Candy Borowski replied. „But what are you doing with ‚The Stoat of Gallows Hill'?"

„I wanted to lend it to Bea, because she told me she wants to read something good," the smaller feline replied, her eyes on Candy Borowski. „Mom?"

„Yes, sweetie?"

„Do you think that, uh —" Mae shifted nervously in her place, „Whatever that dark society is —"

„I don't know, sweetie," Candy replied, „but I do know we're never going to abandon you."

With that, the feline placed the red book on the medium-sized oak table, and drew near Mae as she enveloped her child in a warm, motherly hug, something that Mae hadn't experienced in a very, very long time. Maybe because the latter felt the need to distance herself from the majority of people she knew, as if she didn't want to be a burden to anyone anymore — the kind of mindset Bea had as well — but the more Mae thought on where they stood, it was difficult to place their one-sided relationship somewhere.

But was it one-sided anymore?

Bea saved her from the collapsing mine, and in return Mae saved her from the impending danger she was into — the cult was really not going to back down anymore. But Mae was sure that she will _**not**_ let any harm come to pass, as she cared too much about the female alligator, though she reminded that she wasn't the only one pining for Beatrice Santello.

All this rivalry had to end somehow, she didn't care how exactly — Mae was about to call forth a duel at mid-day, on the abandoned railroad, just like in the old western movies as she heard from her granddad Ainsley, and all of her memories were like train stops.

Wait, where did she hear that before?

 **(In the small park of Towne Centre)**

Angus and Gregg were admiring the trees and listening to the pleasant sound of birds, and everything pointed to a nice, relaxing time for the two boys, but all that peace was disturbed by the sound of a guitarist that practiced nearby, who seemed to sing about...a gator? His voice was calm, and yet, the song seemed to be written by a douchebag, for a douchebag — even so, he was a pleasant company without that.

„How about we see this guy, Cap'n?" Gregg suddenly suggested. „I mean, I know his voice from that Jackie party, but —"

„Sure, Bug," Angus nodded, „After all, we haven't been properly introduced that night. And Mae was busy yelling at Cole."

„Sheesh, that guy," the fox laughed, „Mae is still feeling horrible — and hates that night with a burning passion."

„Let's go," the bear said, as they rose from the small bench they were sitting upon.

The gator guitarist seemed lost in the music, as he ran his claw down the strings with a harmonic tune, and tilted his head with the rhythm. He enjoyed the song he was playing far too much, when Angus cleared his throat, making the gator jolt in surprise and look at the bear-fox couple with widened, scared eyes.

„Hey, dude," Gregg said, smiling. „Uh, liked your music, so we thought that we could check you out."

„Oh, hey. I'm Greggory Lee, but my friends call me Gregg. And he's my boyfriend, Angus Delaney."

„Oh, so you're gay? Cool, I'm gay too," the gator guitarist smiled. „But, uh, the guy I have a crush on seems to be pretty straight."

„So, uh, what's your name?"

„Sebastian Millfred, but my friends call me Bastian." Bastian said, as he extended his claw to the two.

„I don't want to be curious, dude," Gregg said, „but who's the guy you have a crush on?"

„You're not going to believe this, but —" Bastian gulped, „It's that guy, Steve Scriggins. Heard a lot of stuff about him, and for what it's worth, he seems cool."

„ _Is he even remotely joking? Scriggins, out of every other guy...?"_ both Angus and Gregg looked at Bastian with curious eyes. _„Huh, love does have its' ways."_

„We see," Angus said, „Hope it works out for you."

„Y-yeah, I hope so too. "

„So, where are you from, really? I can see you're not from Possum Springs at all." Gregg asked, a little curious.

„Ah, well, I'm from Bright Harbour. Came by with the train, I love trains so much! Anyway, it's cool up there, but..."

„But what?" Angus cued in the conversation.

„I wasn't lucky enough to find a gator to my taste," Bastian said, a little sad. „And then I've heard about this guy — think I've seen him three times around here? A gator with a khaki jacket, smoking frantically? Guy looked like he'd just been dumped."

„So, you plan to go back when you convince Steve to come with you?" Gregg smiled a little, as he didn't expect this mischievous question to come up.

„That's going to be hard..." Bastian sighed, putting his guitar away.

Somewhere in the bushes, Eide was watching their every move, and the sun shined down upon the barrel of his rifle. The coyote's ears twitched in anticipation as he aimed for Greggory Lee, the fox he deemed to be his enemy, as he shot him last year and retribution was now at hand — Eide also planned to abandon him somewhere on the railroad, hoping that the train would crush him to pieces — and all that could be heard echoing in the park was the gunshot.

„ _Bug! Bug, stay with me!"_

 **(Somewhere on the railroad)**

"So, are you sure nobody suspects a thing?" Pastor K said.

"Nah, they're too busy chasing after ghosts, literally." Pat Hartley replied.

"And what happened to Bruce?" she asked, a small frown on her beak.

"Gone. I couldn't trace him at all." the old tabby replied. "Guess Lori M. had something to do with it."

"What? Why?"

 _"She seems to know a lot of things..."_


	7. Lost

**Yay, another prompt with no spoilers!  
But...**

 **First off, I want to apologize a lot.**  
 **I'm sorry, terribly sorry for the horribly late update on this.  
**

 **I wanted to make this a little longer, but I think it's better like this?**  
 **I covered the prompt as much as I could, and someone is getting their dream come true.**

 **I hope it doesn't feel too rushed, though.**

 **Also, I want to thank you so much for the support, it means a lot!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **LOST**

"The Gregg Incident", as the local newspaper dubbed it, was the new gossip in town and a new mystery for the locals to decipher, but for Mae and her friends, the incident was enough to bring out a wave of panic, unrest and fear. She knew one thing: she was tired of being the prey in all this foolish game the cult played, because she had her doubts that Gregg was shot by a gay hater — not that they weren't a lot, but it was enough to put Angus and Gregg in a state of unease — and she was also suffering from the loss of her Granddad.

It's been a year since he was gone, and she marked that in her journal with the words "RIP Granddad, I still miss him". It seemed like time flied far too fast for her taste, it left her with bittersweet memories and an empty place in her heart, and now she rarely spoke with her father about him — but Stan knew that his daughter's request to speak of granddad Ainsley will become an yearly thing — though today was going to be a surprise for Mae and the others.

The three Borowskis were having breakfast, and while Stan was reading the local newspaper, he couldn't understand why the paper did its best to present the poor fox in such a bad, bad light. He knew that Gregg and Angus were together for a long time, and Stan Borowski did his best at being tolerant towards them — mainly because he knew Angus through his father, and knew that the boy was a good one, in spite of his queerness.

Not only that, but Mae, his own daughter, came out and told her family that she doesn't want to be forced to choose between a boy and a girl. At first, both Borowskis were a little confused and reluctant towards the situation, but after a lot of discussions and enough persuasion from Angus, it seemed that Mae's choices were now respected.

"Huh, this whole stuff about your friend getting shot sparked up a lot of speculation, kitten," he said, looking at Mae, who was barely eating her food. "Kitten?"

"Y-yeah, heard that, Dadders," the small cat mumbled as she pushed away the plate of food. "Bea told me she checks on Gregg too. B-but I —"

"Shh, kitten," her father gently placed a paw on her head, ruffling the patch of red hair. "You'll be fine."

"You sure about that?" she asked, a little uncertain about the reassurance her father just gave her.

"Mhm," Stan nodded. "You are strong, and that goes for your friends too."

"Geez, you should be leading this place," Mae said jokingly, "You're good at speeches and whatnot."

"Oh, please, kitten," her father laughed, "I'm not. You want to go outside, I presume?"

"Mae, dear," her mother, Candy, cued in. "Don't forget to take everything slow, okay?"

"Yeah, Mom!" Mae hastily replied as she walked out the door, leaving the two Borowskis confused.

Meanwhile, trouble was stirring in town, as Pastor K was nowhere to be seen for two days — same could be said for Pat Hartley — while a certain female mouse was happy to hang around a seemingly abandoned part of the railroad, as she scribbled something on a piece of paper and folded it. Her expression betrayed no emotion, as if she didn't care about anything that would've happened with this old, boring town, but it seemed like whatever was going in her mind was a grand plan.

"So, uh, you didn't tell them yet, it seems," one of the Three Weird Teens came out of hiding, a female rabbit wearing a black jacket with a black shirt under it, black pants and tan shoes along with a crystal necklace. Her hair looked like it was dyed dark green and her fur gave off a mint color.

„What, do you expect my folks to get it, Pam?" Lori said, with a wave of her paw. „Plus, we're both in this crappy situation because we were forced to —"

„And you're still — uh, somewhat — a child. Seems they liked the way you see things," the rabbit named Pam said as she sat next to Lori. „Kinda strange you're this fascinated with the gothic side of things."

„That's why I said yes to this whole deal, Pam. But they won't like it." Lori pouted. „They still refuse to tell me what happened to my real sister..."

„Didn't they say she disappeared, one day?" Pam asked as she toyed around with a cigarette. „Maybe she shared the same fate as that guy, Casey."

„What _fate_ are you talking about, Pam?" the small mouse's eyes lit up, slightly widened. „What exactly _do_ you know, huh?"

„Look," the rabbit said as she rolled her eyes, „I'm just here to deliver news. Like it or not, they chose you."

„Crap. And _what_ they want from me, to willingly join the cult and say hail to whoever they worship?"

„There's a meeting, at night. Don't say I didn't tell you, Lori. See you."

„ _Shit,"_ thought Lori as the rabbit was nowhere to be seen. What started out as a seemingly peaceful day turned to be a slightly dangerous proposal to dive into the proverbial abyss, and to top it all off, her family life was also disastrous as her parents weren't _cool_ at all with what she was doing.

She could say she felt a little lost.

 **(Meanwhile, in Possum Springs Park...)**

A certain dark-scaled gator took the view of the small park with unease, as he gently let out smoke in the air, holding a cigarette in his left claw. _„Damn, all this is really going to shit,"_ he mused as his teeth clenched for a moment. It seemed the recent events took some toll upon his nerves – Beatrice somewhat dumping him, the shooting of Gregg – and his mind seemed to pause for a while over the fox's danger, as if he was indeed trying to understand the world was changing around him. It didn't mean he couldn't hold onto his convictions, but that seemed harder to do right now, as if someone was telling him to follow this new path before him.

He was unaware that someone was watching him from a distance, someone who was lovestruck with the gator before him. It felt a little ridiculous that he could find a straight as an arrow kind of guy that...

...What was the word?

„ _Exciting,"_ Bastian thought as a smile graced his features, though there is a reason why gators rarely smile. It makes them look incredibly menacing — even if some don't mean to — and that thing is enough to set anyone off on the spook meter of spooky things. _"yes, he is indeed something from this distance."_

His stalking was abruptly cut by the sound of footsteps and a loud baritonal voice that called out his name, "Bastian!" The gator jumped, startled by the noise and spun to see Angus alongside a dark feline, both looking at him with curious eyes, to which the light-scaled gator blushed in embarrassment.

"H-Hi, Angus," Bastian choked out a reply, as he fiddled with his red cap. "I-I was just —"

"Spying on someone?" the bear deadpanned.

"Woah, who?" Mae asked, seemingly confused by the whole conversation. "Uh, Angus?"

"Sorry, Mae," Angus said, rubbing his neck sheepishly. "This is Bastian, and he finds Steve Scriggins _hot_."

Mae's eyes widened before she started laughing so hard she couldn't contain herself, making Bastian's face redden with embarrassment, while Angus was content on watching the whole scene unfold — and he wasn't going to stop Mae from laughing any time soon. He had to admit, the idea of anyone finding Scriggins _hot_ was indeed laughable, but then the bear placed a paw upon Mae's right shoulder as the feline realized she should stop laughing.

"Sorry, Bastian," the dark cat said, rubbing her neck awkwardly, "but I kinda hate Scriggins. Though, if you _do_ help him out…"

"I-It's okay, uh…Mae? Hope I got your name right." the guitarist gator said, as he adjusted his cap. "Heard a few stories myself, so I understand."

"Bastian, you gotta make some moves on him. Or…you might lose the guy," the bear said, his eyes glinting with mischief behind the large glasses. "Though, given his — "

" **Given my what, Angus Delaney?"** a rough, hoarse voice cut in the conversation. The trio spun to see none other than Steve Scriggins, who held a cigarette between his large, sharp teeth and an expression of slight irritation on his face, as he dug his claws in the pockets of his khaki jacket. The dark-scaled gator looked like he was in no mood for heartfelt jokes, so Angus decided to tread on the subject without any further consequences.

Or so he thought.

There was a pause between the four, and a rising tension as Bastian was shifting his gaze from Steve to Angus, while Mae folded her arms and tried to restrain her anger.

" **Well?"** Steve asked once more.

"Well, uh…" Angus started, with slight hesitation, "given your all-time grouchiness—"

"Me? Grouchy?" Steve let out a small laugh, "Nah, I'm just tough, it's a difference."

" _He's definitely pissed off about something,"_ a thought crossed both Angus and Mae's minds, while Bastian was still a little confused about Steve's behavior, the light-scaled gator looking at his would-be-lover with a curious stare. Scriggins seemed to notice that, for he quickly spun towards Bastian, his eyes betraying the silent anger within.

"What are you looking at **like that** , huh?"

"N-nothing, Steve. Just thinking you're kinda cute when you're angry." Bastian said with a small smile.

" **What the—?** " Steve angrily hissed at Bastian, slightly disturbed by the compliment. "You're lucky these two are here, cause I'd—"

"Shut up, Scriggins," Mae cued in, seeing that Angus wasn't willing to say anything at the moment. "You're **not** going to beat anyone on my watch."

At that, Steve started laughing, wondering how hard she was restraining herself right now, "Pfft, you? Prevent **me** from beating someone? Last time I recall, you were the one that had to be watched."

Mae narrowed her eyes, leaving out a slight huff as she was indeed restraining herself not to beat the living lights out of Steve Scriggins. That, and she promised Bea that she will not harm anyone, not even the lousiest gator of Possum Springs, though with his behavior right now…

…He should really consider himself lucky.

"Uh, Angus?" Bastian turned towards the brown bear, breaking the slight silence between them as he figured that Steve was just being unpleasant right now, "I think we should go to the hospital. I'm really worried about Gregg."

"Yeah," Mae said, "me too. He's like the best friend I've ever had, and losing him—"

"Mae," Angus said to the dark cat, his face a little darkened, "Don't go there."

"Sorry, Angus," the feline replied, rubbing her neck in a sheepish manner. "I kinda tend to see things in a gloomy note when I should be a freaking optimist. Anyway, come on, let's go."

" _At least, just because I love Bea, and I'd be truly lost without her near me,"_ she thought as she started leading the two boys following her, leaving Steve Scriggins alone with his fury and misery that he was walloping in everyday. A fury he didn't understand, a misery in which he was indeed complacent.

It seemed like he felt lost — or maybe defeated — because with the actions of Beatrice that happened a while ago, there was no real hope at love for him. Or so he thought…

 **(?)**

Somewhere away from Possum Springs, in an abandoned stable, a bird and a cat were playing in the hay, the feeling of love blooming with each movement, each kiss, each moan and gasp that could be heard in the silence surrounding them. It looked like, for a while, the seemingly disappeared Patrick Hartley and Karen Young were just relishing the company of one another — something most of the citizens of Possum Springs would probably guilt-trip them with — blissfully kissing and enjoying the moment of passion in the somewhat dried hay.

"Kate, this is…" Pat Hartley said, as he looked at the beautiful blue bird before his eyes, "This is a sin…"

"Oh, Patrick, you fool…" the bird said, planting a kiss upon his cheek. "One thing led to another, and in these two days you were far too charming for me."

"But, but you are a priestess, and I…" the orange tabby said, looking away with shame. "I…I still feel something for Molly. I feel like I'm—"

"Shh, my dear Patrick. I'm sure she'd want to know you're happy." the priestess bird said, as she buried her beak in the fur of his neck.

"What about your — you know that you're doing something dangerous, don't you?" Pat Hartley went on, holding Karen in his arms. "I just want to be sure we're on the right path, I-I don't want to lose you."

"You're such a worrywart, my darling. I love you, and that is certain." the blue bird said, as she leaned in for a kiss, but Patrick rose from the hay they were staying in.

"I love you too, Kate. You're irresistible when you flaunt your wings like that, giving way to your natural beauty…" the orange cat said, dressing himself up as the bird covered her eyes with her wings, "And as much as I'd like to roll in the hay with you and all that, we have to think about what do we tell our bosses. They're bound to find out, one way or the other."

"They will not find out," she said with certainty. "We could just say we went on an unplanned trip because we're good friends, and I thought visiting this side of the state would be good."

"Geez, Kate…" Pat said with a blush, "Put something on, or I might get to round two."

"Hee hee, it's not like you wouldn't want it, you sinner." Kate said, jokingly. "At least you're my sinner."

"Yeah…" the orange cat said with a nod, "and you're the most beautiful sin."

Somewhere nearby, a shadowy figure noticed the two as they went outside the stable with a bright smile on their faces. The figure wasted no time in taking a picture with the two, and then he kept watching them until they disappeared from its view, but no sooner than that, it started smiling with a strange glee in its white eyes. _"This is proof enough,"_ it thought, _"proof enough that their disappearance was nothing more than a romantic escapade. And I also recorded everything, that's sweet!"_

The figure then disappeared in a mysterious way, excited at the prospect of wrecking two lives with one stone…

 **(The Cult's Hideout)**

Eide waited outside the cult's hideout, hiding through the woods as a measure of precaution, unsure if Jackie Vickers will actually show up. The strange goat could be seen wandering on the somewhat dirty pathway, shaking her head as she didn't understand **why** she would even accept such a thing, consorting with a strange hooded man whose appearance added to the bizarre feeling she had in the first place. _"Crap. This is not good. This guy just popped out of nowhere, suggesting that I talk with him somewhere in the woods, and that I'm really important for his plan,"_ she thought as one of her paws rested upon an elder fir tree, sighing in irritation as she hated anything that was similar to a wild goose chase.

"So, you came, Jackie Vickers," Eide said, making the goat jolt in shock and fear, "Or should I say, David —"

"Be quiet. I really hate that kind of bullshit, so knock it off. What do you want?" Jackie said as she folded her arms, gazing at the strange man before her with narrowed eyes.

"Revenge. And your friends for my revenge," Eide said, simply waving one of his paws. "Especially Beatrice Santello. She's the key—"

"Shut the fuck up, weirdo. If I _knew_ that was your plan, I would've probably shot you dead right off the bat."

At that, Eide let out a small laugh, as if he wasn't taking Jackie's threat seriously or he actually didn't care about being shot. "I'd love to see you try, miss. Anyway, I said that Beatrice is the key to helping me overthrow the leader of our cult."

"Why? So you can harm even _more_ people than before?" she said, gritting her teeth. "No. I don't deal with fascists like you. So you can **shove your deal up your ass!** "

Eide laughed once more, realizing what a tomfoolery was it to ask this pathetic goat for help. He understood that she would never, ever, give up her friends, no matter what kind of deal he would make — and then he realized something.

With this refusal, she was another obstacle in his path.

" **Well. You just made things harder for you…"**

 **(At Possum Springs Hospital)**

The surgery room was filled with doctors, busy to save the life of one fox, whose shoulder was fractured from the impact with the bullet — thankfully it didn't hit any blood vessel — and the main surgeon was now looking at the injury with hopeful eyes. "It's funny, it just broke the bone in two and just a few fragments here and there…He will be crippled for a good while."

One of the doctors looked at the performed surgery with doubtful eyes, as if he didn't expect this to happen. _"And I heard Eide must've been behind this. Geez, he sure messed his aim up…"_ he thought with a frown on his face, as he walked out of the room towards his office. He then opened the door and went to his desk, picking up the receiver of the black phone that stood on it and started dialing a number.

"Hello? This is Dr. Jonathan Seuss speaking."

A pause.

"I wanted to inform your Excellency that the cult is still working its wonders."

Another pause.

"One of our enemies has fallen under the aim of Eide, but he will survive. Do contact me later, your Excellency. Thane doesn't know that it's you behind the entire cultist masquerade."

At that, someone picked up the phone on the other end.

"Good. Very good, Mr. Jonathan…" a voice that sounded female replied. "Make sure Eide is still under our command. He has to overthrow Thane, and failure is not an option."

"Of course, your Excellency."

Meanwhile, Bea was sitting in the armchair that her father's ward had, and her mind was wandering to Mae, hoping she was fine for the day and nothing bad happened to her. They didn't have any other real chance at speaking with one another, given the whole deal with her father, the Ol' Pickaxe and Mae's attempts at starting to work somewhere and do something for her own welfare.

Though the female gator was indeed hoping that Mae would accept her proposal to hang out somewhere, just the two of them, in a very, very romantic scenery — like that evening when the small cat gathered fireflies to make Bea feel better about herself — and then she was thrown back to the cruel reality she was in. Looking at her father, she thought if he would actually start taking up the responsibility for the Pickaxe after this, and if he would actually listen to her for once.

She was tired of feeling lost, with nobody around her to care.

Well, maybe except one person.

Right then, Mae entered the ward and smiled as she saw Bea standing there with a dreamy expression and a slight smile on her face. The whole scene was indeed hilarious to the small cat, and she lightly greeted the female gator with a lifted paw, Bea responding by slowly lifting one of her claws and then rose from the somewhat cozy armchair to give Mae a hug.

They walked outside the ward, as Beatrice led them to a small balcony nearby and tried to catch up with things that happened lately. The gothic gator was in need of a smoke — despite the protests of the doctor that tended to her father — and Mae was just happy to spend as much time as she possibly could with her love.

"Mae…" Bea's somewhat hoarse voice woke the cat from her dreamy state, "So you're saying Gregg is in surgery right now? Well, crap. How did that happen?"

"Angus told me that while he, Bastian and Gregg —"

"Whoa, whoa, who's Bastian?" Bea asked, as she vaped from her cigarette.

"Oh, you remember that douchebag guitarist at the party in the woods?" Mae said, hating that she had to recall the memory of that night. "Well, that's him."

"Oh, wait. The gator with a red cap and a guitar…? Oh. Okay, now you can continue."

"So, like I was saying," Mae resumed her storytelling, "the guys were in Towne Centre Park, or how most people call it — Possum Springs Park — when out of bloody nowhere, Gregg was shot in the shoulder!"

"Wh—" Bea's eyes widened. "Holy shit, I hope Gregg will be fine."

As the two females were discussing, trying to strengthen their bond further — and possibly giving in to love, on the way — the two boys, Angus and Bastian, were standing next to the surgery room, their faces betraying worry and concern over the fox that was hanging by a thread. They preferred to remain silent for a while, mainly because they felt that words would do nothing more than add to the already growing tension. Angus's mind was rummaging over the incident, thinking if he could've done something about it, hoping that Gregg will not be crippled forever, while Bastian was thinking over Steve's odd behavior. _"He looked like he had a stick up his butt…Oh sh_ — _Bastian you idiot!"_ the light-scaled gator chided himself for the way he was thinking, and then the moment they were all waiting for happened.

A large white stretcher with four doctors surrounding it came out of the room, with Gregg connected to a breathing apparatus, and Angus had the instinct to come next to him, shouting **"Bug! Bug, can you hear me?"** while Bastian just tagged along.

"Mr. Delaney," one of the doctors said, "please let us carry Mr. Lee to his ward. You can visit him in ward 12."

"He will be okay?" Angus asked with a somewhat small voice.

"Yes, but he will be crippled for a while. He will need recuperation treatment to properly use his left arm."

" _Shit,"_ both Angus and Bastian thought as they let the stretcher on its way, and the bear asked the gator to come along towards the ward of Bea's father. After a while, they indeed reached ward 30 where Bea's father was, but there was no sign of Bea until…

They heard some slight moans coming from somewhere nearby, and saw a moment they didn't imagine — or at least Angus — it would happen that soon. " _Oh yes, Gregg will definitely want to hear about it,"_ the bear thought as he looked at the scene unfolding before him, while Bastian was probably shocked about the revelation in front of his eyes.

…Mae and Bea were kissing. And not just some small peck on the lips, but a passionate kind of kiss.

"Hoho," the bear let out a small laugh, "Finally, I've been waiting for this for ages!"

The two females broke the kiss, staring at Angus a little awkwardly as they were caught in the act, and both blushed red, trying to ease off the entire moment and hoping that Angus won't be _too_ pressing on the matter of how it ended up like this.

"Sh-shut up, Angus," Mae said, a little laughing, "I waited for this to happen for centuries."

"When did you get some wit? Did you borrow it?" the bear said with a sly smile. "I bet Gregg lent you some of his wits, didn't he?"

"Angus," Bea cued in, "I believe you know more about…uh…this kind of thing that leads to one another?"

"Can anyone fill me on what just happened? Mae's ….? Wow." Bastian said as he tried to figure things out.

"Actually, I'm not picky," the feline replied, "But my one and only is Bea."

"Oh." the gator said with a nod. "I hope that Steve will soften up to me…"

Bea's eyes widened as she was about to burst into laughter, but then Mae placed a paw over one of her claws as she nodded in understanding. "Had just about the same reaction as you did, Beebee. But at least, the guy won't feel so bad anymore, so lost. I think a lot of his bad decisions come from his grouchy attitude."

"Yeah, maybe so, Mayday," the female gator said, "Maebea so."


End file.
